Whats?! In the HAT!?

Memorable: Flight for Memeself

2012-01-27T02:35:00.000-08:00

A while back my buddy Brad_Again showed my this video and I've always found it very beautiful. Many of his online handles incorporated some variation of "Commander Kiwi" and apparently, this is why. I believe he relates to the kiwi, and to be honest, shouldn't we all?

GM Questionnaire

2012-01-24T02:24:00.000-08:00

I think some of you may already be familiar with D&D With Porn Stars, either because you now read it, saw "I Hit it With My Axe," or I've mentioned it before. Mr. Sabbath has once more inadvertently assisted me in my endeavors to throw my mind thinkings into the void that is the interwebs with this cool RPG questionnaire. Let us jump right in . . .

Pathfinder Part 2: the Beginner Box! @ S.G.I.S.Con 6

GM Questionnaire

Repost and answer. Or, if you don't have a blog, answer in the comments. Or be a big rebel and do neither.

1. If you had to pick a single invention in a game you were most proud of what would it be?
I can't think of any one thing I am super proud of. Mostly little things like magical items for my own characters or for the players, well laid out zones (cities/dungeons/castles). I guess it's the little things.

2. When was the last time you GMed?

Sunday night the 15th.

3. When was the last time you played?

Saturday night the 14th kinda. Sunday the 8th a full game.

4. Give us a one-sentence pitch for an adventure you haven't run but would like to.

The blood bags believe its over before 2013, you've begun to suspect your elders don't disagree, ready to travel south of the border to find the truth?

5. What do you do while you wait for players to do things?

Look up creature < double check creature < come up with encounter < double check encounter < Listen to the players complain/gripe/plot/give me ideas for what terrible things could be around that corner/in that hole/the npc could do to them.

6. What, if anything, do you eat while you play?

chips, candy, pizza, burgers, burrito's, pesto on non bread, anything & everything.

7. Do you find GMing physically exhausting?

I didn't used to, but now that I put much more work into pre-planning, somehow, yes. But of course, as soon as everyone leaves, I am wired and cant go to bed till an hour or more later.

8. What was the last interesting (to you, anyway) thing you remember a PC you were running doing?

As another player's Eidelon(perma-summoned familiar/combat pet) I was a dub-step sparkle bear who spoke all the same languages the summoner did. When asked what my deal was we would say "waiting for the drop."

More seriously, my Shadow-spec Sorcerer developed a spell based off Peter Pan losing his shadow. "peter's Foley" separates the shadow from the target and they take Perma-Con damage until the shadow is re-attached, can only be done with a needle & thread or soap. Shadow attempts to get to the Shadow plan by any means.

9. Do your players take your serious setting and make it unserious? Vice versa? Neither?

Both, we are often very self aware of the ridiculousness of the worlds and it's usually a sign of accomplishment, as in a dedication to the story, when we are not cracking jokes or keeping it light.

10. What do you do with goblins?

play, slay, lay, punch, befriend, get healed by them. It all depends on the situation, game, diplomacy.

11. What was the last non-RPG thing you saw that you converted into game material (background, setting, trap, etc.)?

Dubstep as a cultural starting point? Peter Pan for sinister shadow spells? The 2012 apocalypse as an entire campaign arc? Everything is fair game.

12. What's the funniest table moment you can remember right now?

My cousin Steve and his friend Mike were hanging out and Mike was watching some documentary on Discovery about Wolves. Steve was Dming a game later that night, Mike was one of the players that evening, he was a Dwarven Warrior with a hatred of Trolls. The party was high level and rolling through every combat Steve through at them, so He threw an army of trolls at them which surrounded the party. The lead troll stepped up and said, "I am Krukta, chief. What you do here?" Steve then asked, "what do you do?" Mike, "I fuck him." Steve, "what?!?" Mike, "well, the manual says trolls have similar tribal structure as wolf packs, and we were watching Discovery and THEY said, if you can fuck the leader and get away with it, you become the new leader . . . so, I fuck the leader." "Fine," says Steve, "roll to grapple." Mike crits his grapple check, then "controls the pin" and Steve is so amused at this point says, "5% chance you create a new race of 'drolls' " then rolls a 97. So the rest of trolls are very confused about this dwarf having his way with their chieftain and all they can muster is "do we help? maybe it Krukta new friend? He like?" But, its not all droll secret service and an army of trolls at your command. Krukta then followed the party as a cohort/nag board for Mike's dwarf for a few months straight.

13. What was the last game book you looked at--aside from things you referenced in a game--why were you looking at it?

Pathfinder Inner Sea World Guide & Pathfinder Tales Novels. I am a sucker for getting immersed in settings and lore.

14. Who's your idea of the perfect RPG illustrator?

I want all styles as different flavors add different flair and tones to settings/sessions/worlds. It would be like saying I have a favorite type of music, it really is variable.

15. Does your game ever make your players genuinely afraid?

I don't think I've ever made my players spooked scared(in a horror sense) and I'm not sure I've ever made them fear for their characters lives, but I do know that they know, I will not hesitate to throw something on them that will drop their characters.

16. What was the best time you ever had running an adventure you didn't write? (If ever)

I have a good time running most modules. I have not done it much, but have enjoyed the handful I've actually thrown at my players. I've run them multiple times for different groups as well.

17. What would be the ideal physical set up to run a game in?

That's a tough one because I'm theatre person and would LOVE to have a location for each game that fit the setting, with lighting and sound effects, anything and everything to immerse the players. That said, all I really need is a group, wherever, whenever, lets roll.

18. If you had to think of the two most disparate games or game products that you like what would they be?

I would say I'm kind of bland on this question but, White Wolf: World of Darkness and Paizo's Pathfinder

19. If you had to think of the most disparate influences overall on your game, what would they be?
Shameless internet Meme references, deep literary inspirations, and even cultural influences from arabia to zanzabar, the long way around.

20. As a GM, what kind of player do you want at your table?

One's that show up and will fight for the spotlight for an equal amount of time proportionate to how many participants there are. 4 players, one GM? A fifth of the time, whether it be deep RP, skill check silliness, or just rolling through creeps in a combat.

21. What's a real life experience you've translated into game terms?

All sorts of goofy little things. One of the biggest though is an additional rank of non-magical high quality items to simulate truly exceptional craftsmen. Beyond Masterwork are, in ascending order, Masrtercraft & Masterpeice. Somewhat to denote exceptional forges or even artists of crafts, such as the mythical western smiths or the revered blade artists of the east.

22. Is there an RPG product that you wish existed but doesn't?

Not really, there are so many products out that I still haven't dug my teeth into and want to, that adding more would only frustrate me.

23. Is there anyone you know who you talk about RPGs with who doesn't play? How do those conversations go?
Not on a regular basis as my S.O. plays and most of the people I talk to about it DO play. But even some of them who don't are geeks in other ways (gamers, anime kids, fantasy enthusiasts) so they usually understand everything I'm talking about. I'm not sure if this is entirely a blessing as I would like some fresh perspective sometimes, but then again, when I talk to my father-in-law about it, it becomes stilted and I have to use obtuse examples using mainstream games such as Monopoly and blockbuster movies like LOTR, to explain what I'm going on about.

Busy H47

2012-01-21T22:15:00.000-08:00

As opposed to my normal excuses as to why I have not kept my vaguely normal schedule, this time it is because I have been busy (normal excuse, I know) running around doing errands, getting Fight directing gigs lined up, and moving stuff back and forth around my room because we will have to pull all our stuff out of our room to get the carpets redone from the busted water heater.

I honestly have several posts lined up, ready to be rumbled, and hopefully, I can take Monday night to crack a few out and schedule them for you.

Some thoughts, lots of vids, WoW blathering, and some nerdy music, thanks for sticking with me.

"Arrested"

2012-01-18T10:52:00.000-08:00

I have no doubt that if SOPA or PIPA were to be implemented my entire presence on the internet would be deemed in violation of federal law and would make a criminal on a national government level. Most likely all of my favorite sites and dear friends would also be deemed unlawful elements on the world wide web.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2012/01/sopa-blackout-sopa-and-pipa-lose-three-co-sponsors-in-congress.html

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/01/under-voter-pressure-members-of-congress-backpedal-on-sopa.ars

http://gizmodo.com/5877000/what-is-sopa

Contact your congressperson, talk about it, spread the word. Do more than go camping in a public park, and as always, vote!

Shopping & Some Guidelines

2012-01-10T01:20:00.000-08:00

MRE's!! "Meals Rejected by Ethiopians?" Yup. "But why, h47, why? Didn't you get a ton of fast food gift cards for Christmas? Don't you have a job so you can buy food?" Supposedly, but I was gonna be in SoCal, and as it so happened, getting thrashed about for 8 hours plus everyday, as well as starting at the grossly (to me) early hour of 8:30 AM can really restrict your ability to pop out and grab a bite when you have NO IDEA whats around and are tired enough to go to bed at 8 pm.
So! In my planning, I had no idea how much spare cash I would have, nor what food options there would be, and I have been brainstorming new ideas for Con foodstuffs as well and came back to all my old scout/JROTC/camp days and remembered these meals in bags that "don't go bad." Shortly thereafter, my research began!

I highly recommend MRE Depot (as of this posting, the site seems to be down but it's often one of the first hits on Google, even on multiple test searches from other boxes) as a resource as well as the wiki. And, if you don't have a friend in the military who's willing to buy a bunch at their commissary/PX/BX/NEX/whateva it's called, or if you don't wish to brave the questionably legal and safe Ebay auctions, there are many civilian options that are almost exactly identical. I was lucky enough to catch a Knapp on his way home and he supplied me with a batch, BUT if your in SJ and need some E-prep meals, there is a couple resources.

Steven's Creek Surplus $104 (taxes?) No shipping. local business, please buy there as they have a bunch of stuff I'm not entirely sure where else to get them for less than "custom" prices. Specifically, good boots, dickies gear AND . . . . . HATS! That's right, fuckin "mad hatter" style top hats for like, 30-60 bucks, I almost bought one then and there, but I'm waiting till the end of Jan for my B-day to go by in case I get some extra cash.

In semi-related "grr, me man, me like smash & survival" news, I also want a Strider knife. Specifically an XL AND a PT. An XL (which are "custom only" effectively) because I have an obsession with HUGE blades, I mean, have you read this post?

I want the PT . . .

For more pics clicky!

so I know I have a knife that's okay anywhere and everywhere no matter what I'm doing.*

*Reference: I am NOT a lawyer nor do I pretend to give advice when it comes to legal matters, but what I HAVE FOUND, FOR MYSELF, in my own research into knife laws & regulations is that there is no length limit in California for fixed blades or folders, BUT many counties, and sometimes cities, have specific situational limits, and most of them seem to bottom out at the 3inch length limit for folders. Hence, my desire for a small pocket knife that I KNOW I can brutalize that is still very awesome.
If you think this information is incorrect, I don't care, write about it on your blog, I don't want this to be a debate about blade regulations, I'm simply laying out these guidelines that I follow and that give me an excuse to buy more knives, heh.

S.G.I.S. 6 REG!

2012-01-07T15:30:00.000-08:00

It's ON!

Hatein on Paypal because of the Regetsy thing? GOOD! Gimme the money in person, mail me a check, take it to my folks. NO EXCUSES!

I watched CAMP("sequel" to fame), Camp Nowhere, Meatballs, and Addams Family Values(due to thanksgiving, love the turkey day scene). And it doesn't stop there! No horror movies for me, but you can enjoy them if you like. And also, got me some musical inspiration from Mr. Gambino's latest album
and tour.

As of Today I have 8 people total payed up, and I'm confident 3 more after tonight, thats almost half the spots available and I have almost half a dozen more who have said "they're coming" but just need to get me the cash, so get on it.

As I may have mentioned elsewhere, although I may not get my fancy campfire sing-a-longs, arts & crafts, or and end of camp -athalon, what I DO want is to play some Pathfinder Society, so if anyone feels like stepping up and running an adventure path, a module, or even a Beginner Box Bash, please let me know, because if I don't hear from anyone about it, I will set one up myself. No pressure, I would love to set it up and run it myself, just letting you know.

Also, I have been working on changing up the menu for this year, and yes, I am aware we have certain dietary requests so I will try to bring along substitutions or alternatives, Please let me know ASAP if you have issue with the proposed NEW menu as it is flexible and not yet set.
B-fast: cereal, pancakes, egg, bacon, sausage (usual)
Lunch: (usual) sandwich stuffs, ham, turkey, cheese, PB&J, chips
Dinners: STEW! (potentially soups as well & bread bowls, funds permitting, def w/bread if not & salad)
Potato Boats! DIY with sour cream, chili (vegitarian and "con carne"), cheese, chives, butter, etc. again with the salad!
HOT DOGS!! (soy & hebrew national if I get my way) again with fixin's similar to the potato boats

So, ONE WEEK!!! GIMME YO MONEY!! We're going to CAMP!

Where U at, h47?

2012-01-07T14:24:00.000-08:00

And what's with all the "urban" style post titles? Well, they're quick and I feel they accurately portray the hectic lifestyle I have come across the last three weeks. Worry not H47ites, I am working on a fore-log of my usual droll and drivel to keep this site chok full of the usual vitriol and fan-fawning we've come accustomed to.
Now, why have my post suddenly gone more erratic than usual and not even weekly as has been in the past? well, I will tell you.

After working retail during holidays, which is a pain, anyone who's done it can tell you, I spent a week in So-Cal getting schooled in the myriad of ways of simulated violence for stage & screen, as my previous post informed.
Then, when I got home, I was greeted by a disgruntled cat who had apparently grown rather fond of me and acted out in protest to my absence by peeing everywhere. In between returning to work and a trip to the vet, several cleaning bouts were needed immediately.
With no rest for the wicked, last night, AFTER Theatreg33k/t1nk's callback for Sylvia,

we drove over the hill to a Lords of Ancient Sin meet up hosted by my "brother from another mother" Moose, which included a lovely dinner and blatant sexual advances from and to anyone and everyone who wished to utter "your mom."

I am currently suffereing from D&D withdrawals but I should be able to remedy that tonight as my regularly scheduled table top gaming should resume this week. As should our normal schedule of posts beginning next Tues, as well as a 3rd 4 t3h Nrrd for Jan. and I will do my best to include something else Nerdy & musical to make up for a lack of Nerdcore from last month. I have plenty stewing in my drafts, I merely need to distill them for presentation. I hope you can contain yourselves until then. Thank you all again for your patience and understanding . . . and if not, well, go away then.

U Ded H47?

2011-12-28T19:07:00.000-08:00

No, I assure you all, I'm not dead. Last week was holiday's so my job had me in a tizzy, then family for the holidays, and NOW I am typing this from Culver City. I am so sore right now. And I have 6 more days of it to look forward too. I will try to post some of the work we're doing. I think one of the teachers, the one teaching us rapier & dagger, is also a film guy, so he's been recording us and will probably post our stuff online.

What a hoot. Sorry I've been behind, just busy. I think though I MIGHT have some time this week to write between 10 hour days of constant fight training as I don't have access to WoW. Imma go into withdrawals.

Thanks for sticking around. Later guys. Hope I break a leg . . . cause it's theatre, or not, cause we're doing combat. Damn, I dunno.

Merry Freakin' X-mas

2011-12-13T20:34:00.000-08:00

And other Holiday's as well.

So, my lady is in a show about Jew's in the early 1930's around Christmas time. I think I will start using the phrase "Hanukkah Bush" from now on.

WTF is Kwanzaa? Well, get yourself started with the TRUSTED WIKI, then check out the History Channel snip, and even cruse over to what appears to be the official site. Nifty stuff eh?

And for some Christiany Christmas with nerd flavor I give you . . . .

AND . . . . Don't shoot your eye out, eh?

I'm sorry guys if things are a little goofy lately but the season this year has been particularly busy and tricky for me. (if you really want to hear me complain I have an excellent email where I bitch till Doc Daneeka says I have it hard, let me know if you'd like to read it.) So I MIGHT miss an update next week and I KNOW I missed 3rd for t3h nrrd so far, but I will try to cook something up music&nerd wise before the first. Also, I don't know how much free time I will have AFTER the 25th, as If I'm not at work I will be in L.A. till the 3rd taking a stage combat intensive class. Cool, right? I know.

So, thanks for sticking with me kids. Chat with you some more later.!

Phenomena Dump

2011-12-05T23:35:00.001-08:00

So, last week I PROMISED I would post again before Tuesday. Her it is and because I have had some issues with work and classes and families I wasn't able to finish any longer posts with more meat.
Also because I was trying to finish two chapters AND make a level 13 one shot for two gunslingers and a were-polar bear Ranger with a boar animal companion plus one "other thing" which dropped out last minute.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about START HERE and come back when your thuroughly addicted.

And now, for the DUMP:

fun stuff, downblaoded the mix. dissapointed that "accordian Vader" was not also on the track. maybe next time.
Have I mentioned I really want a concertina?

P.S. In my constant need for things I can not currently afford I have fallen in love with TAD gear in San Francisco. And does anyone have any good explanation on why the section of San Francisco is called DOGPATCH

As for other goofy semi-hardcore/boy scout, mil-spec stuff, . . I complained recently that for lanyard beads on knives its a real "yo dawg" with skulls out there, but then THIS SKULL IS NAMED YORICK so the inner theatre/lit nerd in me goes, That's okay, cause it makes you better.

I really liked this video, and mad kudos to alternative actors (wheel chair? little person? FUCK YEAH!). But, I'm gonna be honest, I don't know how long they rehearsed or blocked, or what sort of training there was or how much they cared, but the fights and the sabre hilts felt a little weak. They were sufficient, I got the jist and it could have been MUCH worse, but, I expected a bit more.

Otherwise, hope that holds you over till tomorrow when I attempt to post something ELSE before midnight. tune in won't you? all half-a-dozens of you?

Place Holder

2011-11-29T23:54:00.000-08:00

Sorry No HEAVY post this week so far. I Do in fact have a couple with content in them, I just don't have them finished to the extent I would like them. Just so I don't leave you totally hanging,

One of the reasons this post is so late. Yes, that is me in my "Mogged" Guardian of Tirisfal set. BOO YAH!

Later H47ites, I promise to post SOMETHING else before next Tuesday. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Seven Years Waiting for Style

2011-11-22T01:00:00.000-08:00

I be waitin for Transmogrification! Fuck Deathwing, I mean, it all looks cool, I wouldnt mind that legendary staff even though I'm a Snick&Stick mage. But I want to get some snazy drapes.

"SnickNStick" meaning a main hand & an off hand.

Blues Be calling it "Mogging." I'mma Mog my gear to look like tier 5. hell yeah.

I could only find a "Mogger" in Ogr across from the cooking dailies guys. (currently under construction, the building will be finished after the patch to house the etherals. its the construction hut where you kill one of the food theives. The one thats NOT near the Tauren area, if that helps. I've parked a few of my toons there.) And of course, one in Stormwind, not sure where . . . lemme check . . . canal side of cathedral square. between Mage section & trade section heading towards docks. Most likely visible due to the cool void warp banners etheral's usually have (remember man tombs & the encampment in Nagrand? yeah, those.) )

Found these creepy critters north of Thunder Bluff between Stonetalon. True story. A herd of them live up there.

Hook it up to my homie Necrus who WAS a Forsaken War, we we're trying to outfit with Lightforge so he could run around in front of stormwind popping his defiler trinket bubble. Check it!

But I'm siked about FINALLY cureing the "skittles puke" issue, PLUS, being able to pick my own style, not look like every other dude.

True story though: Figureprints. Ribeyejack, my FIRST toon who I still have, I had to go buy cheap greens & farm LOW gear that had cool looks because I DID NOT have any that looked cool.

I'm sure other sites will be doing guides and what-not, but I like Wowhead for all my "cheat" needs and am always surprised by how lite the troll community is on there, I can actually read conversations 9 times out of 10
Get your sets by "sets"
Part 1: How to get em
Part 2: Nifty items & more sets
Part 3: "look alike" tiers
Part 4: Green quality "sets"

As I dig through all the options and choices and try to reason with myself as to whether or not I'm going to compile any of these outfits, I realize how much MORE this is going to suck my life away. GJ Blizz, I wish it was sooner, but now its one less thing haters can complain about.

Necromania

2011-11-15T18:43:00.000-08:00

No, this isn't a post about how much I love World Of Warcraft Forsaken, although I do.
This is another of my slightly rare Anime bumps. Which crazy cartoon did I FINALLY finish this time? Well, I'll have you know I finished a couple but this one was:
"Shikabane Hime" , or "Corpse Princess" in English.

I watched both seasons and found it entertaining. A couple excellent twists and addressed MOST of the larger questions the series presented.
I loved the opening and ending credit sequences and the images they evoke as well as how well it embodied the series as a whole. I wont lie, the fan service was quite compelling without ever being blatant or pandering. Well, maybe it was blatant, but not presented in any ways that made it seem crude or part of a joke.
This was one of those shows where I really liked the world the creators had developed and would LOVE to build a character duo for cosplay because I think many fans of the series would be able to identify what show you're from, similar to many pokemon cosplays.

As with many anime, the finale was good, but left one with a feeling of unanswered questions. I know this is fairly typical, and one of my more anime intense friends said "now to watch the OVA" but to be fair the end actually gave some closure to the whole series. Definitely better than many other anime I've seen. So perhaps my rambling is moot.

Apparently you can watch this thing ALL over the intarwebs for free, I think there's even some *gasp* dubbed episodes on Hulu, for heathens who *shudder* enjoy, such a thing. . . . like me. Honestly though, sometimes I like to watch a series in dub so I can actually WATCH the show, see the animation in all its glory and not have to READ the show, so I usually do both if I enjoy an anime enough. Evidence of this is EVA & Lagann where I can tell differen versions by how different the dub. Vs. the official sub./fan sub.'s are.

Anyway. if the art and the AMV peaked your interest, here's the first episode. Check em out.

Sick Day

2011-11-08T19:27:00.000-08:00

So, I'm sorry. But it's one of those weeks where I got nothing. Well, maybe not entirely, I have PARTS of things, but no one has ever expressed an interest in those things from me.

SO. here's another post letting you know I might not post this week, but I will try. If not, I'll attempt to compensate with a double post next week, you know, usual+memeOrable, or perhaps even something else shiney. Who knows.

If you really must know, some of it has to do with the fact a member of my family has fallen particularly ill and my clan requests my presence. Although nothing new nor usually enough to put me off my posts (as many of you know my dedication to my adoring public is paramount in my life [some of this is true, some snark, believe whichever you like]) in this particular case I can focus on very little, save for the particular events going on where the bulk of my bloodline are gathered. If you REALLY want details, feel free to ask. Otherwise, I shant bore you.

Well, maybe not all bad can come of this. check this out for a diversion: For maximum effect Watch it huge in HD on youtube since my anchor bar over to the right likes to smash some of my vids. . . .

And if you like that, GO NOW and watch it on Hulu, or wherevs. and keep your eyes peeled here, FB or Twitter for more, as I'm working with several cosplay entities to create various cosplay costumes and groups from the series. I'd make a great Blue Rose, dontchya think?

Thanks again h47ites for hanging in there. More later.
-H4773r

3rd 4 t3h NRRD: Nov. '11

2011-11-03T01:00:00.000-07:00

Way back at the beginning of this blog, over two years ago, I did a post about Optimus Rhyme which would begin what I now call 3rd 4 t3h NRRD. In the comments below that post I typed up a short follow up mentioning - Supercommuter.
Well here we are again.

Two albums deep, Childs Play proceeds gig with Penny Arcade and a solid track on Nerdcore Now means these cats are steady and strong. You can check them out All Over The Internets, except, strangely Wikipedia. Can someone please take a few to make a worth-while page for them. Apparently the last one was deleted for "lack of relevance" or something like that. They have a link and are referenced on the Opt. Rhyme page, but then you get the deleted page.

Why should you listen to them/buy their albums? Duh. I know a lot of nerds who love some clean chip-tune/chip-hop work, so you get that. I have covered how AWESOME Wheelie's vocals are before, see the link above, I can't put enough of his vocals in my earhole. All of that combined makes for silly-good tracks, and the added vibe that the bulk of them were written & composed during the actual COMMUTE up in WA makes it even more fun.
So, click through those links, find that playlist up on youtube and get chipped off these beats & rhymes. I wanna hear those beeps, boops, thumps & spits out on the asphalt while I'm stuck in that gridlock!

Black & Blue Box Bash

2011-11-01T15:30:00.000-07:00

This last weekend I ran the Pathfinder Beginner Box Bash at Legends up at Vallco in Cupertino and it was a blast!
Although most of my RPG crews already have most of the books and play regular weekly games, I recommend this box to anyone.

First, perhaps the breakdown from "the Golem's mouth"

So yeah. All sorts of goodness in one box that costs less than the core book itself. And for those of you too lazy to watch the vid, here's a breakdown of the enclosed:

"Hero's Handbook:" Basically a shorthand style handbook for the players, with a cool "choose your own adventure" style setup at the beginning for those who cant wait to get rolling. Everything you need to roll a level one toon and buy gear with a some note son how combat & skill checks work.
For Experienced Pathfinders: Great quick reference for some more basic gear and mechanics. Lots of "shiny" inside. One customer said it reminded him of the old video game "Strategy guides" and that was enough alone to sell him on the box.

"Game Master's Guide:" A little thicker than the "Hero's" book, but understandably as it has all then bare bolts on how to run a game, make a game, a mini-bestiary in the back (all the monsters that have representation on the cut-outs below), and the main scenario to get players started on the road to Pathfinder table top gaming.
For Experienced Pathfinders: This little guy is a great quick-cheat book for forgetful GM's like myself, as well as it doubles as the scenario booklet and will probably stand up to more abuse than the usual one shot folio.

Double Sided Battle Map!: On one side, standard 1x1 square grid with generic yellow/tan mottled backdrop on which you can draw anything. I actually managed to fit all four scenarios for the bash on the one mat with the exception of a long pathway. I "dropped" one row from the map and it worked fine. The other side has the entire map for the "in box" scenario dungeon and I know I will definitely use it in the future as "generic dungeon X." You know how there are basically 5 different underground layouts in most MMO's? Yeah, like that. Also, as a total layout, I really like it's rooms, fixtures and dimensions. I know I could probably run it a few times without my group knowing it was the same map if they didn't have it sitting there in front of them. It is a stiff laminate board/paper/stock so it might not last as long as some "better" vinyl mats, BUT, I used a dry erase marker on it and it took fabulously and erased without a trace. I haven't used wet erase on it yet but it is designed to use "any marker."

Set of Dice: red, plastic, tumbled set of dice includes 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d10, 1d"double-ot," 1d12 & 1d20. Hey, who doesn't like more/new dice? Need I say more?

Blank & Pre-Generated Character Sheets: The fighter Valeros, the rogue Merisiel, the wizard Erzen, and the cleric Kyra. Whom most of us might be familiar with from the majority of the art work or even the Society Pre-gens. Though they are not "built well" for many power gamers standards they are built CORRECTLY, as in according to Society rules and with some balance and flavor. They have cool breakdowns ON the character sheet to help explain everything to a new player so it can be decoded for noobies. Then, if they so desire, the blanks can be used to create their own characters in a simpler form than the standard PC Sheet, allowing a smooth transition into "classic" Char sheet layouts later.

Cardboard Cut-Out Miniature Token Sheets: As I have not yet fully committed to miniatures and play-mats, BUT HAVE decided to invest in some in the near future, these little guys are great for players like me who have not yet gone "whole hog" into the 3D representation but do enjoy having it as the 3 pages include male & female selections of every combination of dwarf, human, elf, fighter, rogue, wizard & cleric. THEN, it has a variety of creature's straight out of the "GMH" above, with enough of each to run the "in box" adventure. They're not just chinsy paper pieces that you have to fold the feet back & forth, these are sturdy, almost 16th of an inch thick, stock with more than enough plastic slot bases to stand them all up without having a cool breeze knock them over.

And of course, some standard propaganda for other Pathfinder products for those who wish to expand their game, as well as a "start-up" sheet that sits just below the dice, the pawn bases, & the battle mat, that breaks down exactly how to proceed no matter who opens the box and how many people are present.

So what? Who cares? Is it worth my time? My short answer, yes. Lets break it down a little further.
How much would I pay for that battle mat alone? 10-20 dollars. a set of dice, even cheap one's. peice meal, 5-15 dollars. cardboard miniature cut outs with plastic bases, "out of nowhere number if one were to buy the stock, print them out, cut them out, go to an arts & crafts store and buy the plastic bases scenario" $5 min?
Even if you are like me and already have a bunch of the books and are playing 3 games a week or more JUST in Pathfinder rule set, that's a $20 - $40 value on those items alone.
AND, if you're anything like me and are constantly pushing table top RPG's onto everyone you meet, having a more "board gamey" version to get people started with makes fantastic sense as opposed to scaring them with a dozen $30ish tomes and countless scribbled upon print-outs. Or, as described above, having short cheat books + a module for quick & easy gaming can get some SERIOUS use.
But WAIT, there's MORE. If you head to Paizo's page for the product they have FREE, yes FREE downloads to expand your experience once you've finished devouring everything in the box. Stuff for the "Heroes" in the form of leveling and gear (what every player wants) and a second adventure plus more in depth "tricks of the trade" for the GM's.
What's that worth in dollars would you say? Well, if we're paying by the page for sections of the Core, Bestiary & the GMG . . . . lets say, $15 of the Core, $3 of the Bestiary and $3 of the GMG, that totals to $21 of the "normal" publishing.
Les' tally that all up shall we? $41-$61 worth of goodness? So how much does it actually cost as that much awesome all packed into one box, usually like $100 bucks right? "Well I'm cheap so I want it for $50!" No worries dude, guess what . . .
I don't remember which pod cast this was from, but one of the gents I chatted with while running the Box last weekend said he had actually HEARD a Paizo designer say, "when they were developing The Box, the designer wanted ALL THIS and it NEEDED to be UNDER $35." So of course, it retails $34.99
WHAT!?!? That's crazy, I know! Even a low-bidding cynic like me can appreciate that kind of deal.

Yay, woo, neat stuff, but how about the CONTENT? Well, I'm glad you asked. Fun! Of course, WHO you play with is a factor, and I will be honest, one of the games I ran we had a young gentleman who I felt was . . . less than thrilled to be at the table, however, he admitted to having a good time after it was all said and done, so I hope he was not JUST being polite.
From day one I have found the pre-gens entertaining with their back stories. They are stereotypical in their classes but have enough little quirks that it HELPS a player slip into those characters and find the fun in them, while experiencing staples of the genre first hand. In this case, archetypes = good.
The adventure itself is a small hoot. There is equal opportunity for crafty dungeoners or hack & slashers. Some magic and some mundane plus a diverse yet mostly familiar crew of creepies inhabit this particular complex with simple yet creative encounters.
Overall I think even the most novice GM's could find ways to weave the overall scenario into most games, and of course, should this BE your first game, there are guidelines all over on how to make this the first of many or even seek out full blown Pathfinder Society play.

Woo, I think I'm fairly winded now. Not much else I can recall to expound upon further, so I hope this suffices. Oh, of course, most important of all, ENJOY!

MemeOrable: Epic Sax Meme-sical Interlude

2011-10-27T01:00:00.000-07:00

Epic SAX guy!
A musical phenomenon that I can't get enough of. Apparently, like many things our hive minds hook onto, this guys awesome grooves really rocked allot of people and has maintained a consistent power.

Yes, Yes that IS a ten hour video of the ONE bit of music. Yes, some people on the internet are WEIRD and there are whole communities who have sent screen shots back and forth proving HOW LONG they were able to endure/enjoy the musical stylings. As Nerdcore Luminary YTCracker mentioned on this FANTASTIC REMIX, apparently his raiding companions on WoW would play it over vent while they engaged in end game activities.

While at Anime Expo this last year there was a wandering band of troubadors, one of which had a sexyphone, and the oh-so familiar tones wafted through the convention halls. It was glorious, and I can only imagine what type of rediculousness my own band associates might have gotten up to had we all been in school just a few years later. ah well, I'm old. heh.

But wait, There's MORE

Yes, that just happened . . . Oh yeah. Does the song sound familiar but you've never seen this video before? Do you enjoy the audio exploits of Loveline? Well Guess what?! You're not crazy, well, at least not hallucinating . . .

AND, just for posterity sake, and becuase I beleive in aknowledging source material, The origional video.

You know, I kinda like the jam session at the end a little better. Enjoy!

Watch Out!

2011-10-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

Quick! You got five dollars? You were gonna go get a double-double at InNOut weren't you? Dude, that'll take like, ten minutes, plus gas, you'd have to put on pants. Look, go shuffle into your food storage area, pull out some chips/munchies, throw some PB/hummus on some toast and come back. OH! and grab a soda.


I Think I'd look at you the same way if I saw you in your skivvies

You back? good.
So, I've covered a few Web-Series in the past, and even gotten some feedback about them from the creators themselves. So, as I continually try to do with Nerdcore, here I present a bit of an "update through my eyes" of a few properties for some of you, my readers, who are kind of lazy or just joining us.

Journey Quest, which has captured the heart and mind of one of my party members, seems to be fully funded for season 2. You can keep appraised of events up on there blog, and there are some REALLY cool resources that are cooked up specifically for Pathfinder, which I have a strong hunch we'll be using. According to the kickstarter they will start filming next year, OR, if they receive more donations, they will produce more.

A glistening group, GOLD, continues along. Though I have not seen any substantial postings on the site since August, the mood is that of steady activity. Donations are made through paypal, and I can't wait for season two to see how the league play is realised.

Standard Action continues with standards in action as they continue to promote and fund raise.Just past their half way goal, there is only 2 months left until the indie go go site is finished. And if you want bang for no-bucks, these guys deliver. There have been no shortage of free plugs

& samples from this crew in order to get people to donate. Just imagine what they will do if they HAVE the funds. You should have seen what they did in season one, and although it started a bit out of order for myself, the amount of passion and superb production value kept me hooked. If that isn't incentive enough, the donation gifts are very entertaining and if you're into the series I'm sure you'll find use for the prizes.

So, since I'm going to be spending all MY money on stage combat training (two workshops in 2 months) AND hoping my car/computer/family members don't die, so that I can replace up to two of the previous, PLEASE!! for me, use three of those dollars to donate to each of these series, and then donate the other two as you see fit. Or . . I guess go grab a $1 menu item at a cheaper fast food joint. mmmm, I want Jack Taco's now . . . Later guys, Keep supporting small entertainment, its not the size that counts, it's how you use it!

3rd 4 t3h nrrd: Oct '11

2011-10-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

Worry not my Nerdcore Audiophiles, I still have artists to cover, but this month I don't feel I have the resources to do them justice. However, in their place I offer free beats I find excellent with an attempt at coherence. Ha, who'm I kidding. No attempt. Lets jump in shall we?

Doctor Awkward has a newish site. and almost ALL of his albums can be acquired HERE (yes, even his latest which asks for a donation, you can donate 0, but I donated more)
That Buzzin joint of "This is Not a Cover" is SO HOT, I listen to it at least 5 times a week since it dropped, I wake up with it in my mind.
I can't stop chuckling to myself or thinking to myself, "werd" every time I hear "Wish I Made That."
Grab ALL that DocAwk hawtness. DO EET!!
What Hater? Don't beleive me? Too much of a bitch to click through links? FINE, click this

if you don't believe me and listen to it while you keep reading. P.S. there's a hot track on his main page that's all DC flavored, just in time for the new Arkham City Game. Go, listen to it.

Klopfenpop has a HUGE selection of free, single track downloads HERE. Go snag some. At the top of the page (for all you haters who don't read) he blatantly says how most of his catalog is on that site for free. Enjoy. Oh yeah, He's also done beats for many artists across the board, includeing . . .

MegaRan, Yeah, He's kind of a big deal, and his ENTIRE album "Black Materia" is available for download in single track form HERE, OR, be cool and give him some cash to get a actual, physical copy. Madness, I know. Oh yeah, Did I mention he's on Tour with MC LARS, MC CHRIS and . . . .

ADAM WARROCK, Not Adam War, Not Adam WarCock, actually Eugene Ahn, But musically Rocks! For one mixtape Ive' been bumpin along all over the SillyCon Valley REP Left Coast Marvel. OR, a TON of single tracks all for the Libre (thats Free, as in "swag") plus two more albums and links to everything else HERE. But, Most recently he's been hypeing an EPIC MIXTAPE for all you space cowboys stickin it to the Alliance, SCREW "U" day! Here's a sample song,

but honestly, one of the tracks that REALLY tweaks my blood pumper is "Out of Gas (ft. Jesse Dangerously)". download HERE to hear what I'm talking about! The original soundtrack was masterfully mixed into fantastic beats. The messages are reverent and connected to the property. Apparently there was a critic-tweet about it being too heavy, and honestly, I can see where that came from, but conversely, it was a very serious story, it's just that the story was told so well that the characters came alive and were able to convey the humor in the pain. In summation, I believe there was EXACTLY the right amount of the same in the Browncoats Mixtape.

And YET ANOTHER crew that gets my head rockin like a night at the Roxbury is SOUP OR VILLAINZ. As they spit out music continually they keep their broke fans happy with awesome joints, such as the older Oxymoron: nerd/rapper & Ready To Fallout. and more recently, up on bandcamp with In the Streets (direct download) And Villainz Are Everywhere (Direct dowload) . What, need a sample? Needy bastards . .

Here, have more . . .

WHAT!?!? MORE!?!?!? Gluttoness Bastards, FINE!

Get pulling and I expect to hear some Nerdy beats in your town when I roll through, and NOT just from my ShenaniVan, ya heard me?

S.G.I.S.Con 6 Secondary Update

2011-10-18T01:08:00.000-07:00

Time rolls on and the weekend of Geekends grows ever closer. As of today we are on track for our regularly Scheduled Shinanigans, However, as always, T1nk & I reserve the right to cancel the Con should things come up (such as shows & other things "blowing up").

Lake Gikswongonirmi, near SGISCon Main Site

In my vain hopes to follow a theme, I will move forward under the assumption this year will be Camp-centric.
So far visions of the following dance through my mind:
-Nightly Camp Fire: to include tales, songs and vague native American/patriotic rhetoric speeches
-Fat Camp Event (Eating contest? There is a sandwich shop & a pizza place just down the road)
-Merit Badges or Beads for different event completions (This I would SERIOUSLY need help with but I think could be a blast)
-Science Camp Event (I'm sure a few of you crazy kids have something a far blast better than baking soda & vinegar volcanoes)
-Arts & Crafts (Underwater Basket weaving actually sounds fun, maybe even 'paint your own miniature' tutorial)
-Official Pathfinder Society Sanctioned Game (click through the links if you have no idea what that is)

AND: Recap of the pertinent info:
Date: January 13-16 2012

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

Reg dates: November 25 - January 6 "Standard"

January 7 - 16 "Late"

Thanks again to all of you for being the motley band of reprobates I love and I hope to see a whole mess of you there. If you need ANY further info, you should know how, or at least know someone who does know, how to get a hold of me.

Got Your Ticket?

2011-10-11T23:15:00.000-07:00

It's time to ride my train of thought again! Hold on, even I don't know if it's a one way or a circuitous clover leaf of madness. Caution, Do Not Read! Contains heavy content as well as flippant. feel free to skip to parts that take your interest. You have been warned.

"Feelings . . . thing about . . . uninspired inspiration."
I was having trouble trying to develop a coherent post for you guys. And, after consuming some new and old art (i.e. music, shows) I was reminded of a mind set I have often spoken in theatre. "To hell with the audience, this is for us." Now don't get me wrong, as of right now and from the start, I love you guys. As far as I can tell the bulk of you guys are friends or people who found me interesting and stuck around, I very much appreciate that and hold that interest close to my heart, thank you. But before I get all mushy, I'm going to get to my point. Wait, no I'm not. I say "from the start until now" because I wait with bated breath for my first trolls and critiques, and though I may not like them, I am . . . preparing myself, for brutal opinions and criticism.
Now for the point. As with many things in life, dominantly art, but also in science, labor and spirituality. It's best, most powerful. when you do it for yourself. When the goal is fulfillment, enrichment, or plain honest work.
Hence the crazy dense random post. I'm writing because I want this blog to be excellent because it's an outlet for me and I wish to share the amalgamation that is my brain, because I like to tell stories, share my brain AND it would seem many people have expressed a desire to receive that. So, to the lovers and the haters, thanks for reading, thanks for thinking. Oh, and PLEASE don't stop thinking.

Other thing I wanted to gab about.

Pathfinder/D&D character build.
(Warning: I'm just going to blab about a build or two I'm cooking up and most likely not going to explain too much or link to anything, I'm just going to assume you know exactly what the hell I'm blathering about OR, you can look it up yourself.)
I'm cooking up a build for a roguish, rakish, dual wielding, dashing, snarky bastard only out for himself. He's a Dansin, which means he needs to be able to detect magic, because all Dansin's interact with the arcane through olfactory senses. In 3.5 I could always burn my human feat on Insightful to give me detect magic, read magic &/or mage hand. However, as of this posting I can't find any feats that give me this sort of thing. I did think that perhaps I could take Minor Magic rogue talent, but, you don't get rogue talents till level 2. So, seeing as there are no restrictions on multiclassing, I thought maybe taking my first level in Bard. Why bard and not sorcerer or something, because I also had the idea that since he's a brash jerk he might take Dazzling Display to intimidate his opponents.
More specifically, I have this vision of him standing over dandies who challenged him to single combat whom he then destroyed, wooing women along the way. Glorious, right (slight sarcasm, but tell me if the concept doesn't have some . . . romance)?
But! Then I also kind of wanted to take Weapon Specialist variant because I intend for him to dual wield a Brace (or 'Case')" of rapiers. I would have to take 4 levels of Wep. Spec. to get to the first perk, then 2 more levels of Two weapon fighter, THEN, 2-5 levels of Rogue with Rake variant, ON TOP of a level in Bard to get my Dansin traits. Pathfinder Society play only goes up to level 12. Ive almost maxed out levels just trying to get to the full build of my awesome character concept. Is it to broken?
AND, there are no rules anywhere, so far, for a Brace of Rapiers AANNDD I kind of want it to be a trick set where you can actually carry it on one side and without a good perception check most people will think it's a single rapier. So, I'll have to convince my DM's to use special rules I've been cooking up using the Dual Katana Staff, Rapier, cane sword, and weapon damage charts to come up with a good presentation.
Baring that, I may have to keep two sets of gold tallies if a DM says No, and I have to go traditional Two rapiers, or Rapier & short sword, or some such.
And as a note, I WORE two rapiers just last Sunday, it's not that uncomfortable, so I could totally do that, I don't actually think it looked that goofy.

I had another build or two planned, maybe even confess I FINALLY watched Firefly all the way through, but then again maybe not. should be able to cook up some sort of 3rd for th3 nerd before the end of the month. now it's just rambling, less rant/idea sharing. I'll call it now, as it's been 12 hours since I started this post and I think I'm good. Hopefully things will continue to not get worse. Wish me a swift recovery as I AM sick as of the writing of this post. Night, H47ites!

Its That Magical Day

2011-10-06T23:10:00.000-07:00

It's 10/6. If you have known me for longer than 6 months you should know something about . . THIS

Well, no, maybe not so much American McGee's Alice: Madness Returns
but that in the traditional renderings of The Mad Hatter from Lewis Carol's stories had him depicted wearing a hat with a sizer card in it marked 10/6. As a result, today is Mad Hatter Day in U.S.
I know it's late, but I did it. Make a note of it for next year, and maybe even get your Hat-on earlier in the year and celebrate the European date 10-6 (the 10nth of June)
I know I had a Hatter like day, did you?

Memeorable: Chess Meme Said Knock You Out

2011-10-06T22:57:00.000-07:00

Chess boxing. Yes, it's a thing.

I had planned on doing a long elaborite post with witty puns and some sort of non-commital comentary that was vaguely chuckle worthy at best.

Fuck it, here. Try this if you really even care a bit.

If not, I'm sorry, at least I could introduce you to Let me Google That for You, which most of you probably already know about.

If you feel as satisfied as I do, too bad, try again next week, I might actually post something.

Awe Crap Again

2011-10-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

So, busy week, business class starting (gettin my diversified knowledge on), a birthday, a company outing, a meet up with a friend of the family, meeting up with a friend who might as well be family, making my new fitness/training regime fit into my schedule and stick to it, trying to find a time marathon a television series in order to write a post here, trying to review something here, trying to keep things updated.

Sometime ya just go Cuckoo! (ty SJSU TRFT archive)

Any suggestions welcome, such as any Nerdcore artists to review that I have not already, Nerdy topics to discuss, intriguing memes I have not covered. Feel free to comment or email (or even text if ya got my numbahs) and we'll see what tickles my synapses, eh? Dirty.

Stay calm, I will do my best to post a 3rd 4 t3h nrrd before end of month & def an additional post this week, even if only a memeorable. Thanks for readin' H47ites!

A Tale of Two Burritozilla's

2011-09-27T18:00:00.000-07:00

How does your gaming crew end a campaign? Ours does it with booze, Epic Meal Time homage's, Huge Fuckin' Blades & Huge Fuckin' Burritos.


Birth is a beautiful, yet terrifying thing.

"Oh nos! We just fought a dragon shaman who may or may not have been epic level and NOW there's a size category HUGE green dragon barreling down on us as we sit like hors d'oeuvres on a plate on top of a temple." No, bitch! My group says BRING IT!!1! We're eating 17' death rolls of Mexican goodness then pouring poison into our gullet holes while we FUCK THAT DRAGON! No shit, the dwarf just made a grapple check, now he's rolling to control the pin.

"Let's go to Work."

Before we get (yes, I'm going to say it) ROLLIN' we have to divy up this mass of meat, beans, rice, awesome, sauce & tortilla so that all may partake of the madness. "But h4773r? Are you gonna use one of those little Bitch Kitchen knives? That would take forever." FUCK NO! I use Aniki, the beast from the far east, the edge from the edge of the world, my Kanetsune.

Luh-Ike! BUHTTUH! I came a little. I wont lie about that. And yes, that is a wooden battle board with scorch marks for the grid. Ti Slut did that up nice just for our group.

"But where will you cut it? That's not your table and you don't want to get 'zilla juices all over the floor? Are you going to go outside?" FUCK NO! This is D&D right? We use the fucking metal-ass battle board to slice these vessels of sustenance, then we use it for tactical visualization, like a Boss.

Aniki, Drippin', not ready to take his tip out of the battle board. Burritozilla, divided. Was it good for you?

And so, as the sounds of gnashing nerds and guzzling geeks echo against the walls of our dining area, shit is being bulled. My compatriots enjoy their last moments as living characters before I destroy them with emerald, winged, acid breathing death. On film, for your consideration.

Perhaps the camera man (RunningRyan) and myself will make a transcript and post it so you can hear my witty ass remarks. Probably not though, as you should just watch it 3 times like I did.
And guess what? We did it again last week, only it got crazyer, with more video, and hopefully better quality. Tune in!

MemeOrable: "shuffle Meme!"

2011-09-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

Like many nerds, my friends and I have ventured VERY far into the unique board game forest and have played and encountered amny crazy and odd games. Everything from the colossi like "Catan" and "Talisman," to the brand spankin' new "Orbit" and even, the ancient "Jurassic Park" & "Line in the Sand."
One of our most revisited and reverently spoken of games is . . "Thousand Blank Cards."
I will admit that not only is this game great for its free form and potential for rampant shenanigans, it's one of my favorites because any time me and my smart ass friends want to show of our mental wangs, the cards provide a superb platform.
I was first introduced to it by my pal F33r3t (a proper Discordian) who showed me This Site, and ever since it's been a running gag/damn good time every time we've played.

A few excellent examples form one of my own collection/seed decks.

One of my favorite stories was back at an old Japan Town Anime Faire, a whole crew of us had got two rooms, one of our good friends and fellow SJSU alumna J.Rei had just won Anime Expo Idol and had been harangued into coming up to our rooms and playing a round of the game. A few hours had passed, (I think it was the next day by now) and Miss Rei had an even the next morning (that morning?). Of course she was going to attempt to bow out early, after one more turn. I believe she kept the card as I can't find it today, but I whipped one up right quick: "Attacked by Rabid Fanboys (the picture had a little dust cloud and some heads sticking out of it with a quote 'OMG ITS AX IDOL!!!') All voice actors must finish the game." This was greeted with hoots of joy, shouts of exultation and one good nature'd groan of defeat.

But Then I got High

2011-09-20T00:30:00.000-07:00

Quite the opposite actually. More like "and then I got low."
I have a few things in the pipe to post (like-ya-do) but as of last night I did not have the UMPH to thump away at the keyboard until a semblance of a post appeared, I would rather write something I might actually want to read later.
(I have noticed that often, maybe it's just narcissism, but when I dig through back posts to find something to show off or whatever, I will find myself READING my own posts and thinking "wow, this is GOOD." But then of course, who else would I appreciate the writing style of more, than myself?)
I will do my best to throw a "real" post up before midnight tonight and I have a couple Meme-orables, so there will be that thurs/fri at the VERY least.

Thanks for hanging in there with me H47ites!

The dungeon master & webseries.

2011-09-13T15:10:00.000-07:00

The Golem, I think. (off their Myspace)

As I mentioned last week I had the good fortune of participating in a cool event at Strategicon Gateway called The Dungeon Master. It is a performance group that does live theatre where audience members are pulled up on stage to form the adventuring party that may or may not complete the quest presented to them for that show.

Although the version I played in was a low rent/on the road/woo-this-space-allows-for-nothing sort of set up, the costumes they brought were excellent, the tech aspect served it's purpose and coming from a theatre background myself I applaud the final result, I would not dare to claim I could have done better under the same circumstances. And as far as content, the story, characters, and gags were all, at worst, amusing. Many of the jokes were clever and fun with many obvious nods to RPG and geek tropes, creating an overall sense that yes, you had played this campaign before and that was half the fun of it.

I never realized I need to buy a welding jacket for T1nk, it's kind of a good look for her. (Ty Rayne 4 pic)

Running for over a decade now this crew has been living nerdy and providing art and culture to southern California. Not content with ten years of longevity on stage they have also branched out by starting a web series.

Of the four episodes of Legends of Atoll there is a lot of fun. I'm not sure exactly how intertwined the two shows are as far as production but they are both chock full of the same humor, charm, and love of the genre.

In having many friends who are also in the entertainment industry I usually give my honest opinions and critiques, and although it appears both products could use improvement and tweaking, I highly recommend this to all nerds. Question about your character? Ask, The Dungeon Master

A Gateway to Societal Paths

2011-09-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

Just got back from Strategicon:Gateway, almost "today (as in we almost got home past midnight last night)" but in retrospect, I am so glad I decided to tag along with J.C..
First day we had not even asked ourselves what we wanted to play when a enthusiastic gentleman began to chat us up. apparently he was running a pathfinder game where the PC's play a band of goblins, a fantastic one shot. I agree to go play. (Apparently it was a one shot for Pathfinder Society, which I had toyed with signing up for in the past, but had not committed to, as I had not fully researched it.) We assemble and start picking pre-gen goblins, but there is a small army of us, grossly exceeding the encounter CR so we move to a different room and split into two groups as one of the players volunteers to DM. I opted to join the Last Second Group, where I meet "D.J?.", an older gentleman than myself with a goatee and a wicked glint in his eye who volunteered to DM and "H.Hazzard." a bespectabled, well built, prematurely-balding-batman-baseball cap wearing, crazy eyed glaring chap as well.
The goblin crew set out, I opted for the NE cleric of the Goblin God (we were all evil, and, like you do, hate dogs & horses and LOVE fire) and at the beginning of our first combat, before we were allowed to perform any actions, we had to sign our "goblin song (all the pregen's had a quaint little flavor text box)" in order to continue the session. An hour goes by as we get to the dungeon(read:combat grid map section) and barrel through it as H.Hazzard's goblin has a barbarian like rage whenever he smells dogs. Quote "Ah hayt dawgs. Aye smell'um." and as evidence from some of the other parties in character voices, these goblins have cajun accents as our speculated cooking also runs along that vein.
We barrel down into the boss fight as H.Hazzard busts through a floor to get to the dogs, wielding a "goblin sized great club" (a horse joint we hacked off our first major encounter "stompy") and the hilarity ensues. Our alchemist cant stay standing, our rogue, shy from one of the first fights, doesn't make come into the room till round 4, the fighter wont even consider the boss(an evil druid with a Med. Frog companion) until all dogs are rendered unidentifiable, and the bard is doing his/her best to be useful. Seeing as the rogue is wielding a gift from the chief (a +1 weapon) he has a n extra "dogslicer(knife)" and refusing to dual wield with his standard one, I, the cleric, Sleight of Hand it off of him while he's prone, 2 combats previously and am now a dual-wielding cleric.
I get a swarm dropped on me, there are three dogs up as well as the boss & her toad, so, I do what I think any self respecting NE goblin cleric who already blew his burning hands earlier that day would do! Channel negative energy, three consecutive rounds. Even until the last day of the con (four days total) the Goblin MVP's were myself for nearly dropping half of my own party as the CLERIC, and the alchemist from the OTHER group for playing sloppy with the AoE from his bombs. And so, just as I get swallowed by the toad, my group manages to finish off the toad & the druid, all wrapped up in less than 2&1/2 hours. A fantastic introduction to Pathfinder Society if I do say so myself. D.J?. granted us every bonus and accolade he could for that session on the Chronicle sheet.

Second day, I waited around for something, decided to opt out, then was dragged along to a live event called The Dungeon Master and since I had not yet done any RP that day, decided to sign up to play/perform.
This was a blast. Despite the fact some of our party members had not even hit puberty yet, they were enthusiastic and ready to solve every problem with whatever weapon they had at hand. I felt I presented a slightly better than mediocre display of my wit and wisdom as well as a one shot on the "boss" of the session. Apparently my snark, ability to combine rhymes for pun-tastic couplets, and willingness to contribute to the terrible pop-culture references and inside jokes made me the audience favorite for that session, gaining me free admission to their shows for their next season.

Day Three, I am on a mission to play another game with D.J?. as the DM if he runs one and I have also resolved to join the Pathfinder Society in full and roll up a character. I have done a bit of research and am learning about the world of Golarion so I begin trolling the corner/hole the society had been regulated to. I find D.J?. and he is sitting, eyes closed and chiming in to a game he seemed to be helping with. I tried to chat him up a bit and after hearing simply that he would be running other games, wandered off to begin rolling up a Pathfinder legit toon. I find some amiable gents who've been playing Society for some time, as well as H.Hazzard, and the BSing ensues while I choose what type of ridiculousness Golarion is about to defile its universe.
I opted to join in to a tier 1 game and so my reign of silly has begun. After gaining the approval of 1 and 2 1/2 ninja's (i would say only half approval from two of the three) oh, I'm sorry, "merchants," and noobing it up/messing with our cleric (who was being RPed excellently) I had completed my first real Society mission.
I tracked down D.J?. again, this time he was MUCH chipper (apparently a 6 hour nap has that effect) and agreed to let me jump into a game with a pregen he was running later that eve.
And so, at 8pm we assembled, H.Hazzad was running his crazy high AC warrior (33 AC before buffs), I snagged the Rogue from the core book as my other choice was the warrior, and we already had one. The gal RUNNING a few things at the con decided to jump in as our healer, the Cleric from the core as well. AND to round out our crew we had a fantastic battle-buff-bard/savage skald of serious Nordic flavor. APPARENTLY, this tier was 8-9, the "real" characters were level 8 and the cleric & I were level 7, so we we're technically UNDERpowered for the session. so, about 2/3rd through the first encounter we almost KILLED, like, dead dead, more than -10 plus -your con score, but thankfully, D.M?. re-did some math and realized he was using the higher level stats for the encounter so re-dialed the damage. We were then offered the opportunity to restart the session for a more appropriate adventure, but we opted to be badass, and managed to plow through and complete the task, we might have had SOME help from the DM, but even with some junk rolls and maybe some meta-gaming from the DM and the cleric, we had some great moments. Even so, I think we earned those points.

3rd 4 T3h Nrrd: Sep. '11

2011-09-03T01:12:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for an audio assault from the nerdy north west!? Like numerous fantastic geeky things, this cat is from Seattle and he goes by the awesome moniker Klopfenpop!Mr. Fenpop, Mr. Pop? Whatever. This dude is what most NEED to be to be anything on the internet as anartist, a jack of all trades. He mixes, spits, produces and collabs. You can hear him and his works all over the intarwebs. He VERY recently performed along side 1st Gen nerdcore Methuselah MC Frontalot & Mega-Ran. Check the Collab below . . .

Every single beat I've heard him lay down, I could bob my head to, in all of his live performances I've watched on Youtube, his flow is constant and his rhymes are clean and if he continues to put out content like he has been so far, he will maintain a spot in my top 20 nerdcore artists.
I know, I know, I use the Nerdcore Now Vol. 1 songs a lot on these, but lets be honest, they are good. Besides, this one is a short version and live. Enjoy!

Memeorable: "Meme memee me"

2011-09-01T03:47:00.000-07:00

This weeks MemeOrable is a 1 & 1/3 deal. Lets jump in, shall we?

An internet phenomenon from the ancient days of Flash, HOMESTAR RUNNER!!!!

My fiance loves it and used to follow it much more back in college. I like it but some of the humor falls short for me. I do love certain selections though, like . . .

Speaking of Trogdors, I used to know one in WoW, I know there is an actual mob named Trogdor, but this was a RL guy we would run dungeons with on occasion. (back in my day before them new fangled randoms) and I'm sad I no longer remember exactly what race or class he was as it was THAT LONG AGO (old timey wow player is old).

Another amusing anecdote is when I was playing some PvP in wow, and there was a player with a character named "Thecheat." I took note, was vaguely amused and went along trying to defend the farm (Arathi Basin). He helped save the zone a few times, but then, he did something infuriating, started fighting enemies out in the middle of the battleground as far away from any flag as you could possibly be. So, I called him on it:
"No thecheat, we had these flags installed so you can fight on and off the node, not so you can honor farm." And he replied: "meh mehh mememe meh." I then offered: "Come on, lets pour that into homestar's mt dew. I hear they have to pump your stomach if you drink that stuff." And several OTHER people in the raid were amused by the exchange.

Game-con-on

2011-08-30T01:58:00.000-07:00

This weekend M'Lady & I will be in SoCal attending Strategicon's Gateway gaming convention. She will be helping keep the con looking good with the D20 Girls and I will be riding along for shiggles.
Although I don't normally attend gaming cons I do hope to change that. I'm looking forward to trying some different systems. My coworker "RunningRyan" recommended I try Arkham Horror, as I've never actually played it and maybe even put my acting chops to good use in a LARP, as there seems to be a cool Eberron session set on the lightning rail and of course a steampunk game also.

To add some vaguely relevant personal insight to this post I might discuss the new Campaign that just started with Eric the Blave as DM.

As a flavor/powering component he has had us roll up lvl 1 NPC class characters, and then when we level we will take the first level of a core class. However, instead of having us play a short prologue like he has done once previously, we rolled straight into the first session of the game.

It has been interesting so far, I like the idea in general as a neat quirk but even up against po-dunk peasants it was a challenge.

I don't mind low powered survival scenarios and if I know that's the kind of game we're going into I know to enjoy it. However, I don't know why I never learn with this DM, I expected something more epic, initially.

So, the idea is that magic is returning to the world after thousands of years and our characters are inheritors of this concept (i.e. sorcerers are unheard of, there is no "live" pantheon, everyone worships the elements, but we are the rare few to bring about change in the world). Being that our group would be (after our first "real" level) fairly unique and definitely more powerful than the average citizen of the world I anticipated some fun derring-do our first session.

I was wrong, as I so often am in Eric's games. Brad_again(rejoining our group once more after a 3+ year hiatus) and I would joke about making a kill order list of every named NPC we met and general taking a KoS view of the world if anyone was a jerk or TOO helpful. The joking was about 60% joke and 40% serious as intelligent, articulate, polite and EVIL JERKS seem to infest The Blave's worlds.

Although, even with a mob of peasants vs 3 level 1 npc's I am learning the power of a reliable strength score as well as controller characters. Even as an expert, which gets no BAB, built to level into bard, I was able to make excellent use of trips and grapples.
As much as I want to gripe, perhaps I will have enough time to see how effective I can be "dual wielding" a quarterstaff with a -2/-4 attack. For some inexplicable reason I seem to be terribly adept when my characters have absolutely no business doing a certain thing, and then does them. (My full progression Wizard who had a Bastard Sword for looks and ended up one shoting a peasant and some utiugs on separate occasions.)

A House Rule for Life

2011-08-23T19:10:00.000-07:00

Of course I begin this post with a nerdy tangent to talk about something slightly less recognizable as geeky, but I assure you, knife nuts can be VERY nerdy.

In most of my RPG groups, we have a house rule that if any of your items are +3 or better, they should be named. Favorite results include the shocking, returning +2 boomerang dubbed "Stunbob the Stop Stick" and the +3 seeking frost Heavy Crossbow simply named "Angus."

So, in a very similar fashion, I name many "important" items in my life, no few of which are my knives. I think we all know where this is going. Lets jump in, shall we?

Name: Three
Make & Model: Benchmade, McHenry & Williams, 710SBKD2
Specs: G-10 handle scales, Axis Lock, D2 blade, powder coat & Partial serration, drop point blade geometry, roughly 3.9 inch blade, swappable clip.
Carry condition: EDC-Heavy Use

This bad boy was my first SERIOUS high end knife. I was originally looking to snag a Spyderco Native, but instead opted for a big upgrade and was seriously lured by the Benchmade Axis Lock. It was my ONLY EDC for almost 3 years until I started to acquired more blades. I named it "Three" from a Monty Python: Holy Grail gag, where "Three shall be the number of the counting, and the number to be counted to shall be, three. No more, no less. Three." I use this joke because, as a pocket knife, as a cutting tool, for versatility and utility, the 710SBKD2 is everything a pocket knife needs to be; crazy good edge retention, serration, black blade, super strong/one handed open & close lock and super durable/strong/simple handle.

Name: Aniki
Make & Model: Kanetsune CW-6 "Beauty*" or "Dragon*" *(Still not confirmed)
Specs: Made by Hitachi in Japan, 14-15 layers of "White" or Blue" Steel in Green Paper technique. Laquered Oak Hnadle. Full tang, and a 27cm blade. Also, a sexy wood sheath with leather & buckle clasps. Check that thing out.
Carry condition: At work when I'm wearing a tie, striking sets after shows & special occasions.

This big ol' Island beast is a unique piece, and as of this post, I am confident one of TWO in the entire United States. I can not find ANYTHING on it on the internet that's not on a Japanese, Chinese or Russian site. Apparently the manufacturer that crafted this fine "ken" normally only makes blades 6" or smaller which makes it even more rare. As it is I have TWO Japanese majors working on translating the various Katakana found along the blade, the box, the pamphlet it came with and even the catalog my store ordered it from as there is virtually NO ENGLISH associated with this knife. As for how I dubbed this short sword, if you watched Gurren Lagann Subbed, then I think you might get the reference. I wrestled wiht this partivular name for a while, trying to think up clever things, but ultimately I wanted something with a nod to it's heritage. I went with some goofier ideas like "Ken (Blade)" or "Dai (Great) Ken" but since I liked the idea of it being something great, with mighty soul, that I could rely on when I needed something exceptional and elegant, I went with "Aniki (Big brother)." With this knife I can Peirce the Heavens!

Name: Big Chief Broom Bromden (or any variation thereof, usually "Chief Bromden")
Make & Model: Columbia River Knife & Tool 8102 "Tighe Tac"
Specs: 3+" Aus-6 blade, stainless bolster & Liner lock. Zytel handle scales. unique flat cap thumb stud and cross pattern carry clip.
Carry condition: EDC-"Sheeple knife"

This slab of class was a gift from a fantastic gentleman who's a friend of the shop. It is a discontinued model and therefore slightly more collectable. Due to all the stainless internals it has a really nice heft to it and something else I'm not used to, the clip is tip down which is new to me and I am having issues adjusting. As for his moniker, I always told myself, that if I acquired a blade from CRKT (pronounce as initials, most knife people I know snicker if you call them "Cricket") I would name it after the central character from Ken Kesey's novel. I think it's fitting. He's a big brute, but conducts himself as one much smaller and gentler, quiet and nonthreatening, unless moved to action. Taking comfort in menial tasks but capable of great feats of strength. "You're gonna make it out there, Chief."

Name: Solstice
Make & Model: Spyderco C123TIP "Sage 2"
Specs: CPMS30V Steel with ambidextrous thumb hole. Titanium frame lock. Modular wire pocket clip.
Carry condition: EDC-Medium Use/"Sheeple knife," Special occasions
This clean, classy little carver is like having two companies in one knife. The Sage line currently has 3 models, each one is a nod to a different innovator in the blade industry. The Sage 2 is a salute to Chris Reeve and his fantastic simplicity of "Ti Frame lock & S30V" and it's versatility. It gained its name thanks to a certain youtube review I have mentioned previously, and since it cancels Christmas, I am left with Winter Solstice. I suppose if I come to own other sages they would in turn be named Kwanza & Chanukah.

Name: Sir Patrick Stewart
Make & Model: William Henry B10 TZ "Lancet"
Specs: Anodized detail Titanium handle and modular clip. Sapphire Gem Button lock. Coated ZDP-189 blade. Sapphire gem thumb stud. #106 of 500 ever.
Carry condition: EDC-"Sheeple Knife," Special occasions
Much like his namesake, not EVERYBODY has heard of him, but as soon as you begin to describe him, his accolades and capabilities, it becomes apparent he possess a fantastic character and fiber. From a company more commonly found in jewelry shops this well dressed tool delivers. I have used this exact knife to help me set up our Wondercon Booth and he performed admirably, or should I say "Captainly" or even "Knightly?" Honestly though, the real Sir Patrick Stewart was made a Knight Bachelor shortly after I gained this knife, so he was prevalent in the media, and I also look up to Sir Stewart as an inspiration as a storyteller and actor. So "Although he may not be the best for a particular job, Sir Patrick Stewart is acceptable in every situation."

Name: Patrol Leader
Make & Model: Benchmade 610SBK "Ruckus"
Specs: Powder coat with partial serration. 4.25" S30V blade steel. Axis lock. G10 bolster. Micarta handle scales.
Carry condition: EDC-Heavy Use
This beefy folder is one of my few "Grail" knives as I fell in love with it my first month with my store. At the end of that year it was discontinued and I wondered if I would ever have a chance to grab one again. Thanks to the many collectors I know at the shop, one was found and I jumped at it. As I've said to many people, it sings to the Boy Scout in me and when I began to ponder what to call it, the name had already been given to itself. I also found Benchmade made replacemnt handle scales in various materials and colors, and well, we all know chicks dig case mods (and nerds love customization gimmicks). So I ordered them (some of the last in Benchmade's inventory, SCORE) and now have different "uniforms" for PL. His stock scales, the micarta are his "BDU's (Battel Dress Uniform)" or normal outdoor gear.
"Class A Uniform" is the snazziest handle scales, as they are carbon fiber. Subtle, understated and high quality apparel.
"Blacks" for STEALTH MISSIONS! Or if I want it to match Three, OR if I want black on black awesomeness, I have normal black G-10 scales.
This is Patrol Leaders "Winewood Camo" and it is pretty. When I first put it on I made the joke that if I were to stick it in a tree he would say "Um . . . I'm a branch, you can't see me!" And I liked that joke, so I'm sticking with it.
Although I have dubbed this one "Class B Uniform" I must admit it's one of the cleaner, dressed up looking presentations. Silver G-10 scales give it an almost tuxedo appearance. Daddy likes.
And of course, one for, THE LADIES! I figured, if you do an apparel shoot with this much sexy, you should do a nude shoot as well, if the model is comfortable with it, of course. And oh boy was he. Even without the scales, the Ruckus is built so well that you could use it in this skeletal state (with some care taken, of course).

For those of you who got this far and wonder at some of the terminology I used, it's either "just me" or, some of it is knife jargon.
"Sheeple knife" - A knife that is socially acceptable in mixed company and most situations.
"Grail knife" - fairly self explanatory, an item one is constantly seeking.
EDC - Every Day Carry
Zytel - a glass filled polymer commonly used as the industry standard in handle materials in high end knives
G10 - inter-woven fiber glass bathed in epoxy resin. Stupid awesome durable, nigh indestructible. a favorite for hardcore knife handles.
Micarta - Very similar to G10, instead of Carbon fiber linen is most often used. Other weaves include paper or burlap. As a result of the more fibrous base components they often become tacky when moist and allow for better grip. The durability is almost on par and much more supple to the touch.
Different numbers and letter combinations in relation to the blade steel are the steel codes and should be researched separately as they are greatly varied and diverse. I have said before "There are as many steels as there are types of bugs in the world, good luck learning them all."

And, as an added Joke for some of my fellow McHenry and Williams fans, I decided to post this one a little late in the eve. I'm holding mine, are you?

Nothing to See Here, Now.

2011-08-16T14:09:00.000-07:00

Yeah, sorry folks. Late post week, check back in later.

By the time I figured out what I really wanted to post it was a little late for me to finish it correctly between work & sleep & moping around feeling lethargic. I think it will be a fun post, hopefully done by Friday.

In order to not leave you totally without something, let me direct you to a couple of my weather sites. Any time I want to know what it's like anywhere, I visit these sites . . .

The Fucking Weather
or a more subdued version (i.e. dark, or environmentally friendly version)
The (earth friendly) Fucking Weather

Or, when I need a Terra-specific description
Star Wars Weather

Memeorable: Bless us, A-Meme!

2011-08-11T13:20:00.000-07:00

It may not be known to many of you, nor to most of my friends, really. But, I do consider myself a religious individual. I hold many beliefs and ideals close to my heart, soul and mind, and try to adhere to them strictly. I was Chaplain's Aide in my scout troop where I would lead a prayer or two at camp chapel and I often lead grace on those occasions when my family felt compelled to give thanks for certain meals.
Those who are aware of my particular brand of spirituality, like those scouts from so long ago, and some who've I've shared divine debate with, know that to call it eclectic would be an understatement. And I honestly can't believe in a Great Spirit, or Ultimate Creator who doesn't have a sense of humor when there is so much joy and pleasure in the world.

With that said, I found this guy all over the webs a few weeks back and was inspired. Although I don't share his enthusiasm for NASCAR, I do appreciate his style of worship. Pastor Joe Nelms it would seem is a constant giver of the Word with his particular brand of enthusiasm and I hope many other people can see that many believers, of many denominations, live and pray in the same world as they do, but also keep their faith within the same contexts. And with that, Bugedey Boogedy, Amen!

P.S. I might also track my fascination with unique prayer to one of the stories that influenced my childhood. Lee Marvin, in "Paint your wagon" performs a strange eulogy for a poor farmer wherein they discover gold at the river they are burying the deceased. I have actually used this piece as a monologue a couple times, it's always a hit.

Paint Your Wagon

Ben Rumson’s

“Oh God” monologue

After a wagon goes barreling, uncontrolled down a lethal slope, Mr. Rumson goes down to bury the farmers. Two brothers, one survives. It is up to Ben to give a eulogy to the recently deceased. During his conversation with the Lord, he and the other men present realize there is gold in these hills.

Ben: Bring Brother. (The men place the body over the hole.) Uh, more to the side. Oh god, we pass on to you the body and soul, of this nameless pecker head. Well, at least he went quick. An’ he aint gonna have to suffer through the scurvy. The dysentery, the spotted fever, the cholera or the ague. Not to mention them other maladies. Contracted in the consorts with low women. Haha. Or waste a couple years digin in the dirt and findin dirt, like I been doin.

And seein how I survived alla that. He coulda been hit by timber, fall down a shaft, starved, get murdered, or commited suicide on Christmas eve.

What im tryin to say, God is, you dont seem to have no particular pity for your children when they livin’. So thats why were askin ya, to be a little kinder to em when they dead. So with all due reverence Lord, we pass on to you, this corn cracker’s body and soul.
(they see the gold and it registers)
To take him, and to keep him...

I stake this claim for me an’ my new partner over there or whatever the hell his name is! For ever and ever, Amen.

Pull ‘im up.

Play Time

2011-08-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

I mentioned on my twitter recently that if I got over a hundred followers AND it looked like they weren't all bots, AND that I would stay over 100, that I might, conceivably, post something unique for the occasion.

SO, here I present a present for the present, a tedious brief One Act I wrote for one of my classes that has actually had a couple performances outside of class.
Not only do I post it here for you all to read and gaze in mirth at how clever I am, but, If you so wish, take it and perform it yourself, should you be so inclined. If you know me IRL I would love for you to contact me to help and translate and "co-direct" in a manner of speaking. Or even if we are far afield of each other, feel free to contact me and ask about any difficulties you might have with the script.

I also realize I mention certain things and suggest certain music that I do not have the rights too. So, I give this as an open source sort of piece and should you modify it for profit, please inform me should you project to make, or actually make, over $500 gross profits, as I would like some compensation.

And, Without further frippery, I give you, a part of my stage brain . . .

F.T.W.

Tony Elfson

SCENE 1

We see a dark room. Only the glow of screens illuminate the handful of figures. The glow are from a television, a couple laptops and hand held devices. There appears to be a table the figures are assembled around.

MC Frontalot's “Shame of the Otaku” plays through the darkness. As the song finishes we hear one of the figures speak.

KAWAI: This world has walls, a ceiling.
Outside, cars drive by.
The sunlight roasts my flesh.
Even a bird who chases a rainbow
finds itself blindsided by a plane.

This world has walls, a ceiling.
With the glow of our LCD screens,
we greet the morning.
IRL, lacking the sun,
we have no need for the sky

She repeats it once and says “Thank you” at the end.

The lights are flicked on by SHAYNA and we can see the table. Table top RPG books and other geek paraphernalia litter the tableau.

The D.M., a soft spoken pillar of geekery, sits at the head of the table. KAWAI, a cute lil thing, is an anime geek. MEME, loud and obnoxious, only speaks in Internet phenomena. GLENN, unassuming but clever. SHAYNA, not mean but definitely gets to the point.

GLENN: Heh. Thanks for the translation. I still like Front's Secrets From the Future better.

SHAYNA: wuthefug are you guys sitting the dark? I cant see the battle grid. Damn. D.M., where were we?

MEME: It is pitch dark. You are likely to be eaten by a Grue.

D.M.: Actually, yes Meme. The group has ascended into the cavern and there are no sources of light, other than Kawai's wizards staff. (he motions to her)

KAWAI: Hikari! Light. What do we see?

D.M.: You see a long hallway stretching off into the darkness, there are doors lining it . . .

MEME: Its a trap!

SHAYNA: Good idea. Glenn, you take second in marching order so Meme can search for traps.

D.M.: Alright, Meme, roll search.

GLENN: Hey Kawai, can I talk to you for a sec? Um. Help me in the kitchen? I can never find the cheetos.

KAWAI: Hai! We get root beer Bawls too.

The two get up and head out of the room.

SCENE 2

Optimus Rhyme's “Anxiety” plays for about a minute. KAWAI sits on counter eating cheetos, swinging legs back and forth. GLENN paces with an energy drink in his hand.

GLENN: You and D.M. Have been together for a while now? How did you guys start?

KAWAI: Hee hee. He was cosplaying as Ichiro from Magical Love Gentleman and I was Ginja, the magical cat/rabbit princess, so I followed him around as part of his outfit and we've been together ever since.

GLENN: Okay . . then how do you think I should ask Shayna out? Or should I? Sometimes she can be.

KAWAI: Gomennasai. Honestly, Glenn, I wouldn't worry about it. I have faith in you. You will find a good time and I think she will say yes.

GLENN: Thanks. We should probably get back in there. How many times do you think Meme tripped the traps?

KAWAI: (Hopping off counter) No. The question is how many times did Shayna actually rez him?

SCENE 3

MC RSI's “Gamer's ParaDice” plays as the group reassembles in the gaming room.

Same as end of scene 1.

SHAYNA: Looks like we found that Warlord's Lair. Get in here Glenn, we need our frontliner.

GLENN: I thought Meme was gonna tank this one? Mr. I-do-6d6-damage? Eh?

MEME: (looks up bewildered) Do not want!

D.M.: The room appears empty, but you notice that the coals in the hearth are still warm and several other cues have you believe he may be back soon.

KAWAI: Quickly guy's we can ambush him! I extinguish my light spell.

SHAYNA: Not all of us have darkvision. I pull out my sunrod.

GLENN: But our two big damage dealers do, Kawai & Meme. I douse Shayna's sunrod.

KAWAI: No, she has a point, you need to be his first target. Hikari!

D.M.: Kawai's light spell comes back on.

MEME: No, The Cheat! We had that light switch installed so you could turn the light on, and off. Not so you could throw light switch raves.

GLENN: Alright then. Let me think.

MEME: (rolls some dice) GAY! (throws a die into a corner in disgust) Who responsible this?

SHAYNA: (leans over) Here let me do a search check. 27! What do I find.

D.M.: You notice there is a section of the wall that is actually made of cloth and plaster, not stone. You open it and see a large pulsating gem. It does not appear to be attached to anything. Do you pick it up?

GLENN: Just in case, I close the door to the room and keep an ear to it.

D.M.: okay, make 2 listen checks for me. Shayna?

SHAYNA: I pick it up and examine it. I make a spellcraft check . . . 31! HA!

GLENN: 17 & 22

D.M.: On 17 you hear rustling from down the hallway . .

GLENN: I crack the door open and look out . .

D.M.: Oh, Shayna, with that check, you KNOW that this is a spirit vessel, and that if it is destroyed, The Warlord will perish.

KAWAI: Knowledge Arcana, 33! How do we break it?

D.M: Glenn, when you crack the door open all you see is darkness, but you hear heavy breathing and the sound of a man in armor coming down the hallway.

MEME: LEEE ROOYY!!

GLENN: No, Meme. Wait!

MEME: I attack the darkness!

SHAYNA: Wait! Kawai, how?

D.M.: The ancient legends you've studied say that the “ Lord of War's heart of stone” can only be broken by “the first of four.” From what you remember, “The first of four” is a young warrior who travels with an elven sorceress, a gnome thief, and a cleric of the amazon goddess. “The first, need only strike the heart, to slay the Lord of War”

KAWAI: Glenn! Hit the gem!

GLENN: What?

MEME: FOR GREAT JUSTICE!

KAWAI: I tell the rest of the group!

D.M.: As you explain that info . .

SHAYNA: as she explains I put the gem on the far table form the door and move Glenn to it.

GLENN: I move as she grabs me.

D.M.: You hear a voice from the doorway, “You have found my sanctum! I'm surprised you made it this far. But, after all we've been through together, this game of cat and mice . I'm . . .

MEME: Never gonna give you up! Never gonna let you down! Never gonna run around and DESERT YOU!!!

SHAYNA, GLENN, KAWAI: Shut up Meme!

D.M.: I'm going to crush you all!”

GLENN: Did Kawai finish explaining it?

D.M.: um, yes.

GLENN: I attack the gem.

D.M.: Glenn, make an attack roll against 12 and tell me damage, everyone make Fortitude saves as well.

GLENN: Crit, 42 damage! Fort save, 19

SHAYNA: 10

KAWAI: 21

MEME: OVER NINE THOUSAND!!!

SHAYNA: He got a natural twenty.

D.M.: Shayna: you take 62 damage, everyone else takes 31, and Glenn, as you feel the blade strike the gem, it feels as if you are striking through a hard, viscous goo, but you manage to slide your edge through all the way to the table. As you do you are greeted with a disgusting smell of rotting flesh and burning bones. You all hear a violent scream of rage form The Warlord as you are all suddenly swept over by a wave of purple-black necrotic energy. If I'm correct, your all unconscious, except Glenn? (Everyone nods) Glenn, you see The Warlord drop and wither away as his skin and bones turn to dust, only his armor, clothes and weapons remain.

The group is all grins, the girls jump up and hug. The next two lines happen at once)

MEME: Two girls one cup!

GLENN: I jump over to Shayna and force a vial of Cure serious into her mouth!

Kawai jumps back from Meme as if he had the plague and Shayna gives him a look that could melt iron.

D.M.: She's conscious. And I assume the two of you heal the others.

SHAYNA: Not Meme.

MEME: Blizz, why no love for rouge?

GLENN: I'll get him.

D.M.: Gratz, you have successfully defeated The Warlord, and thats the end of my Campaign (he holds up a book with a picture on it)

MEME: (points at the picture triumphantly) “THE GAME! BITCH! YOU LOSTED IT!”

SHAYNA: Sweet, I'm starving, lets get grub.

MEME: I can haz . . .

D.M.: Meme?

GLENN: Actually Shayna, I was thinking R.J.'s.

SHAYNA: Cool, (to the rest) you guys cool with that?

MEME: The cake . . (Kawai kicks Meme under the table or perhaps withering look) iiis, a lie!Uh, The Internet is for Porn. (Meme then gets up and leaves)

KAWAI: Yeah, you guys go ahead, D.M. And I have to get to work on our Costumes for SGISCon. Is it okay if Glenn, gets you home instead?

Glenn nods furiously behind Shayna

SHAYNA: I guess so. (She turns around, he splits into a grin just in time) Split a desert?

D.M. Woo, look at my wrist! Come on, Kawai, lets go! (he grabs his laptop and his girl and leaves)

KAWAI: (as she's beeing dragged) Ja-ne!

GLENN: Actually. My treat?

SHAYNA: Sure, on one condition?

GLENN: Yeah?

SHAYNA: After dinner . . we go back to your place . .. and I kick your butt at Back Ally Brawl 5!

Glenn just grins widely as Doctor Awkward's “LAN Party” plays.

End

3rd 4 t3h Nrrd: Aug. '11

2011-08-03T02:28:00.000-07:00

A question that has been asked for decades . . .

And there is an answer . . .

Laying down phat rhymes!
What one might consider a "Second Gen" Nerdcore Artist, numerous Nerdcore Methuselah have praised him as an artist to watch.
I'm gonna be honest on this one, initially, I was very aware of Mr. Moore as a hip-hop artist, and was not impressed. Something about his works always had little syncopation or tuning issues that would just put me off the groove. However, so many names that I trusted spoke so well of him, I kept him in my proverbial periphery and would check his latest works every other year.

However, shortly after watching Nerdcore For Life, I was impressed by the short clips with Beefy and Optimus Rhyme,

so I decided to move up my yearly check in and was rewarded for my patience.
This cat has continued to put in work and evolve and push his envelope to produce MORE excellent music. Though it has taken some time, if Beefy continues to progress at this rate I would not be surprised if I heard his beats all over.

He uses a variety of beats and can cover a range of rhymes to lay down his tracks. The content is far reaching and always speaks to me as he is fairly open about his trials and obstacles, but of course, that is what art does.
If you have not heard of Beefy until now, then you must be new to my site or just don't come for the nerdcore, as this guy has friends throughout the Nerdcore world and seems to always be willing to throw a verse for his fellow artists.

Who's that next to him over there? Why that's Adam Warrock, why yes, We have covered him as well. Look at them enjoying frosty beverages together.

What else can I say? Go check him out, grab some of his free stuff, then go buy some of his "I want to make money" stuff anywhere you can purchase music online, yup, hes one of the few on itunes. DO IT! While you do, here is some mood music.

Terrikahnia: Part 1

2011-08-02T01:38:00.000-07:00

That is the name of the world I am currently running two concurrent Pathfinder games in. The main continent/human kingdom is called Greethelude, and has a late medieval/EARLY Renaissance (read: less than 12 NPC's over level 15 core classes). The adventures sort of top out at level 10 or so, but could be easily scaled up or down. For higher powered games I would lead the groups to different areas that I have not fully developed.

Its origins are actually from a failed forum RPG some acquaintances I met in high school attempted to start, called "Hellsent." Then later, as I fleshed out the world and recycled the original setting & plot I now borrow HEAVILY from one of my current WoW Guilds, "Lords of Ancient Sin" on Cenarius. Characters and characteristics of players have been translated to the universe for NPC's, and even some of the back story.

In Pathfinder the Cavalier is usually linked to an order, and one of my players chose the "Dragon" order in the book. For flavor, I reworked it for my universe and dubbed it "The Order of Schorl's Heart."

"Upon entering the Order you are granted the "Heart of Schorl" medallion.

Schorl was a female half elf Paladin who was the love of King Shakoo. Though they we're torn apart by scandal, Schorl continued to serve the kingdom and maintained her status as a beacon of light, protection and forgiveness to all.

The only order to openly recruit all genders, Men in the order are called "Consorts of Schorl" while Women are called "Schorl's Gaurd"

Derogatory terms for the men are "Schorl's Eunichs" and for the females they are either "Schorl's Busoms" or . . . "Consorts of Schorl"

King Grimmean Rules from the Northern city named Loas Keep. Generally he is a just and even headed king, though not a weakling, he did study magic more than the blade in his younger days and is still known to dabble when the restraints of court allow. Soledad "the Bear" or "Grimms Right Hand" is a well known Paladin, of the "Order of the Hammer & Shield," is a fierce protector of the kingdom and is a sight to behold. There are some unsavory rumors that "The Bear" and his Highness are more than just good friends but any mention of it in court has been met with swift disdain and lack of any solid evidence quells the conversation quickly, the offending party often falls out of everyone's favor.

A weeks ride to the south of Loas Keep brings you to Shakoo Ridge, the old capitol, and the first city of the Kingdom. Established as the "frontier fortress" as King Shakoo pushed his dominion into the north, It has become a dingy trading city where every sort of riffraff an be found. Ruled by a Duke openly, there seems to be an unofficial ruling body in the city known as "The Knaves." The thieves guild, the mysterious leader is referred to only as "Sirrah," recently they have had serious issues controlling the underbelly of the city figuratively and literally as another force has pushed them to the safety of their hold outs, the main of which is often heard referred to as "Home." To some of the more skilled and high profile "knaves" in the city, a person who goes by "M", who has sometimes signed certain correspondence as "MNBF" is said to be a shadow manifested to serve the will of Sirrah. He is often a contact and offers various jobs, contracts and orders. Never has he said it is the order of Sirrah, nor has he admitted to being a Knave to others, most can assume there is a close connection.

Another point of interest is the Temple of Tyr. Run by dark skinned clerics, it is known for it's laid back nature and it's strange acceptance of bards at all hours in its main hall of worship. The head Centurion is named Tyrone, and the High Priest is Klashaft Ngaulikahn, who goes by "shaft" for short.

One of the seedier taverns in town is called the Sickly Dragon, it has a fairly descriptive sign out front, and is known for its ability to be back to . . not clean, but normal, after almost any altercation form the night/morning before.

The Nightman, or the Captain of the city constabulary is a middle aged man who has not gone soft in the middle named Emilius Nolan Bartholomew Finch, and ensures that even though the Knaves run rampant through the city that citizens stay as safe as possible in such a city. And even though you may get your purse cut, your neck shouldn't, unless of course, you ran afoul of someone, in which case, accidents do happen. The recent shift in power has not let him sleep easy during the day, he's said to sleep almost from when he goes home to when his shift starts the next eve.

I'm not entirely sure If or when I post a part 2, but, if any of my players wish to take a test on any of this content I will possibly grant them some sort of boon, like XP, a feat. skill points in knowledge(not sure), or cool items.

Nerdettes

2011-07-26T15:15:00.000-07:00

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.

cosplay deviants

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.

The Gamer Girls

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.

empowered fire

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 . . .

Charisma +2

Another modeling site, very clean, looks very professional.

Frag Dolls

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.

S.G.I.S.Con 6 Alert

2011-07-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

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.

salute your shorts requst video by classicnick90

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.

Gygax is Rolling in His Grave

2011-07-12T15:20:00.000-07:00

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.

How do you Blog?

2011-07-05T01:01:00.000-07:00

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.

3rd 4 T3h Nrrd: July '11

2011-07-03T01:19:00.000-07:00

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!

My Tale of Two Cons

2011-06-30T01:05:00.000-07:00

I will be at Anime Expo this year, and due to the hubub, I will also most likely go take a gander at AM2.

Holy Smokes, that's alot of Anime, J-culture, Con, & Driving, BUT, I'm not working, I will have my partner and good friends, so it should be survivable.

I am a little bumbed I wont have any good costumes YET, but there has been plotting, and as soon as I can PURCHASe the items necessary, I will be crafting like an 85 grinding from skill "1"

So keep an eye out for my signature headgear, say "hi" or if not, just be like "huh, I think that's that h47 dude, cool"

Also, please dont creep on my Cosplay homegirls, be polite and chill, and they can cut you!
C.J. or "T1nk"

Calamity Jane or "C.J."
and a myriad of other ladies who associate with me for my impressive, large, wit!

Cochlear Erotica

2011-06-28T01:53:00.000-07:00

Music from across the sea. Not all of my music interests tend to the nerdy hip hop, I am also a HUGE Celtic/folk/acoustic Renaissance fair revival stuff, type music enthusiast.

Let me introduce you to one of my obsessions, Big Band British Folk (say that 5 times fast) super group . . .

Bellowhead
Back in like, '07?, I did sound design for "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" and tried to cook up "cafe music that wasn't lame" as I recall my Directors instructions being. In my research (Limewire, man, I was lame Pirate for a while) I came across a song called "Rigs of the Time" . . .

And could NOT get enough of this sound, so I sought them out, and by a stroke of luck, I found their first full album, "Burlesque" on Amazon . . ".uk" and their album was something like thirteen pounds, so, I let Amazon do the conversions and gave them my credit card number. Two weeks later, I got my first Non-Japanese import, and it Is awesome.
Another album was titled "Hedonism" and I have yet to acquire it (its on my list don't worry) but I really like their naming conventions. HaHA!
Please let me know if you snag any of their other albums, so I can steal a listen, hehe, Listen on, gents and ladies, CHEERS!

memeorable: Meme. Tran

2011-06-23T01:27:00.000-07:00

*Movie Voice* Do you live, in a world, where you need! A HOT DICKING, from a FIVE YEAR OLD!? With P.H.D., and a HUGE COCK!? (Great, there goes another file in some nameless government agency getting bigger, meh, whatevs.)
Then you need!

Doctor Tran!

I received Doctor Tran, like Many things, playing "Youtube Poker" (I will explain it in another post, don't worry. remind me if I don't for like, a month.) and like many things, I have not seen it for a while, so I felt it needed to be preserved, and I needed easy access to it.
Here is one of my favorites.

You Better Save

2011-06-21T01:02:00.000-07:00

Cause I don't know if you've got the gear for these . . .

Bossfights!

So, I had this huge elaborate well thought out post about how I blog and where my influences come from . . . Screw That!
I have Been Waiting for This Album, SO HARD!
Today, the 21'st, they're Debut album is out. Why are you reading this!? Go get it, NOW!
Okay, downloading? good.

I had been head banging super hard to the first three songs they put out back when their site was still part of Z1's Site, and have put them on 3 different mix-CD's. Upon glancing over the track listing for this new album I see "Eye of the Rising Sun" and "Left For Dead" But I am a little disappointed not to see "Frontalots" as I love that anthem. I wonder why. Well, maybe they just forgot, considering . . . some of the things they do . . .
I've been listening to the sample tracks up on their site and OOH BOY! This is definitely a unique, amazing, professional garage band, super group sound and mix that takes all of the artists influences and makes them flow and coalesce into audio awesomeness. And you can quote me on that. I will be a few bucks poorer in wallet, but many times more rich in art as I will be bumpin these tracks all over. Oh, and here's a tickler that you cant get no-where . . .

Best rest up at the Inn, cause in the mornin, there will be Bossfights!

Memeorable: MemeDeath

2011-06-16T03:10:00.000-07:00

So, recently, my better half has made a more concerted effort to take in more anime, as I have taken to the habit of just letting it play, then asking me non-stop questions I cant answer about said show, as I don't speak Japanese.
Most Recently we finally watched Neon Genisis: Evangelion, the original, as it is such an . . integral part of the social circles I run in, and its . . infamy.
Many of my anime associates, such as Epyon Avenger, will make refrence to one of our favorite fan films based on that most mind-fucking of animes . . .

ReDeath!!!!

Local Grown (Silicon Valley, represent) this short is just crazy enough and anyone who actually enjoyed Eva in their own sick, twisted self-loathing way, gets the jokes, and has this great sense of humor about it. And even if you HATED it, I think you can get behind this short as it is an excellent lampoon.
Let us hope these episodes stay up for a long time . . . .

Punk Music! STEAM punk music.

2011-06-14T01:07:00.000-07:00

As per usual, I was trolling my usual feeds and this guy and here re-invigorated my internal debate as to what constitutes "steampunk music."

There is the obvious, yes, Abney Park, Clockwork Quartet, a few others I've found. These are honest musicians and there is little doubt as that they are unique in their style and are embraced by, if not, seek the embrace of certain communities. Other artists I've come across of note include: Unwoman, Unextraordinary Gentlemen, & Vernian Process. All reside around, or have been in the Norcal Bay area.

Honestly, for me, the music has to take me there. You know who does? Mumford & sons, also other real bands like The dubliners & Bellowhead, as long as the music has that flavor, its there for me. There is something about Mumford & sons' "Little Lion Man" that puts me in a steampunky mood, probably the banjo and the subtle accent to the singers voice. Also, "The Cave" always reminds me of the Parable of The Cave, which we we're reading in my Sci-Fi/Fantasy Class, the same time I had decided to seriously seek out and begin to study Steampunk.
I need to see the people who live and breath the steam, walk the dingy streets with man made cloth clouds overhead. Many "histories" revolve around alternate Earth histories and so I feel many old folk songs fit RIGHT in the worlds. I know a lot of groups push the DIY and sci-fi music to explain more modern instruments and sounds. Many times, for me, these experimentation's fall short and take me out of the world. I'm sure others enjoy them, as I will aknowledge your -thing- is art even though I may or may not enjoy it or get it (speaking in a much broader, general sense). I haven't really come across any "sophisticated" music (as covered in the above article) where "refined" more classical style music that is composed and orchestral.

(I could not find a good recording of this song, but it's one of my faves and always held a mystic yet tangible human element I would jam to.)

I think it needs to come from the aesthetic (Once more, speaking in a sweeping generality, that applies elsewhere) and then is created for it's own sake, and then is amazing. Not something made to fit in a niche that doesn't feel inspired.

And as an added bonus, an online steampunk radio station
http://www.sepiachord.com/
I have not yet opened it wide up for a listen, but when I get cracking on my Steampunk Epic, it will most likely get a mass of play time along side my other inspirations.

Rollin' Customs

2011-06-07T01:45:00.000-07:00

We all know I have an affinity for dice. What true table top nerd doesn't? We have discussed this before. And, like all obsessions, there are those of us who seek out the unique, novel and even absurd variations thereof. Although I have previously acquired my strange polyhedrons from various sources, I was recently contacted by a fascinating individual . . .

And made aware of his excellent operation. Abraham, out of Barcelona, is a professional Dice Maker. Perhaps even, a polyhedromancer? And the "d"s he cranks out are totally rad. Like most geeks, he seems to have a plethora of nerdy interests and these are reflected in his dice designs, and they are awesome.
They look clean and precise and from hints on his blog he experiments to get the most out of his equipment to create the EXACT effect he wants on his dice.
I'm not sure when I'll get some extra cash to procure some, ( I should look up what S&H is from Spain to California. I love international shipping, I'll tell yall my story about a $30 CD later, so worth it though)
But I look forward to ordering some and seeing first hand how well the ink holds, how random they roll, and overall the feel of the craftsmanship. I can only imagine now what it will feel like to roll initiative with something hand crafted by another RPG enthusiast making a living doing what he loves.
Muchos gracias, Abraham. Viva dados!

3rd 4 t3h Nrrd: June '11

2011-06-03T01:12:00.000-07:00

So far this year we have had exemplary men and women in the nerdcore realm, time for some dastardly dandies.

Soup or Villainz

Their boy Viet Vu seems to be a constant in the crew, other members fluctuate, a partial roster is up on their FB Page. They do an excellent job to promote and distribute. I love their style and sense of humor. Their sound is always professional, clean and their covers are well crafted.
Have a sample of one of their collab/covers with Atomsk . . . .

As of this post they've done about 3 albums.
Their oldest is an excellent collection of Fallout Inspired tracks titled "Ready to Fallout" you can snag it here!
The second has a break down here as well as a direct download.
The third is available ovah nyah.
They also appear to have some prolific video making habits and you can find a fantastic selection of videos on their youtube channel HERE, as well as other places around the intarwebs.

These guys are great and on my top list for groups to watch and tune into.

Here's hoping that this new crop of nerdcore continues to bear fantastic fruit such as these cats.

lastly, I leave you with another rare track that isn't found on the first two free albums.

2nd Anniversary!

2011-06-02T01:15:00.000-07:00

Wow. Two years and still I give of my mind freely. Let us look back at some of the posts I consider gems, shall we?

True Player
I have mentioned in the past I consider myself a Playa (not a beach, but the slang for Player) in the noun sense, not the adjective. Especially of Nerdcore. Check the post for original context then come back for an updated movie link, as the old one got pulled.

What's in a Character Name!? Forsaken
Walk through some of my logic, as twisted as those paths are, concerning how I named some of my WoW toons. I think the paths have some decent scenery when it comes to the end product.

LEEROY Vs. Freak Out
More Wow, More Vids, and yes, I have opinions and feelings.

BOSSFIGHTS!
Of course, gotta do 3rd for T3h NRRD. Hopefully these cats will drops some new tunes before/around Nerdapalooza this year.

And then I was gonna post another, and another, and another, but honestly, just look back over the last few months as I feel there is some real quality posts for most of my readers.

Also, Thank you all again, new and old readers. Spread the word, the gospel of the H47! I will do my best to continue to provide slices of my mind to you, the semi-enthusiastic H47ites!

Texts to Self Fanime Recap!

2011-05-31T22:20:00.000-07:00

Fanime! Day 0: Rode line ride twice. Brought stuff up from car thrice. Ended up sweatin dice.

Day1: Went home. Tacked stripes onto a corset. Came back & ate in room. Got pissed in dealers hall. Went back to room to eat. Walked more. Rovers told me i cant plug in there, but i can plug in here. Had a great night without actually being at con.

D2: shaved, walked, pizza, paneled. Sushi/donuts. Got flyers for store. Dropped them off at dojo and got talked up. Munchkin, pizza. Walked, creeped/chivalried, la vics, MADNESS!

D3: rocked check out. Home, shower, phish, chat, fam med issues, dm prep, promo. Prep & promo turned into playtesting with mom & daughter couple from hawaii, walked, got knapped, pubbed & celtic musicd, walked. Set up for pathfinder, waited, waited, waited, freaked out, waited. relieved. Combat, drop off co-worker, home.

D4: late, artist alley table hi-jack. trio of sexy pokemon. trio of sexy pokemon in dealers hall. Traitor customer "motivated" with phish. walked. Iguana'd. walked. pics. home!

I took . . . 2 pictures total, and they are up HERE, I'm sure T1nk will have a much more detailed, pic-filled post . . by the end of the month?

Fanime 2011

2011-05-26T01:55:00.000-07:00

I'm at Fanime mouthafuggers!

Since our store wont have a booth at fanime this year I will be attending as per normal. We shall see whether or not I hijack a booth like I did last year for some impromptu nerdcoreness. Or if filled wiht enough bravado from friends I might just start busting rhymes at random.

I will also be guerrilla gaming all weekend. Some homeboys who wont break down and pay the cash to attend will try to sneak into the gaming hall for D&D OR we'll just procure some tables on the concourse and play to the sounds of Stage 0 shenanigans.

Also, check out the Twilight Knights Dojo where Master Ben Hsu will be laying down Martial Arts knowledge, and BONUS! My store is doing combo packs for training for that. Get em quick, we will probably sell out.

So keep an eye out for my vaguely famous headgear and say hi. See you web-space cowboys!