San Diego Comic Con 2009 part 1

(There is a room above the fire station on Main Street Disneyland which Walt Disney would stay in all the time. He would keep a light on to let the people in the park know he was there and after his passing they keep the light on all the time now. Thats right)

TEN FUCKING HOURS!!!Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself by about six hours. So, for the fun adventures of how we finally decided to go to SDCC see Theatreg33k . . damn. one of these days I will link the shit outta these posts.

SO! Pievuhg had a weekend pass (she's sleeping with the owner of a local comic shop, regardless of the fact that the owner is currently carrying her husbands child SHUSH!) but T1nk(theatreg33k, yes i know, "holy shit h47!? nicknames for your nicknames?!" shuddup, T1nk is shorter and its another of her personas, AND it's my blog, keep up!) and I only had passes for Fri & Sat, we were gonna drive down Wednesday, and while pievuhg was at the con thurs, T1nk & I would hit the magic kingdom (yes, we're Disney whores and have no shame about it. yes, i know they're an evil ubercorp, but I'll be damned if its not one of the most fun places in the world, get a childhood) *looks around* crap, got ahead of myself again.

Tuesday night (after D&D) I discovered my H47b0x(my computer) decided I could log in but would then log me back out of windows, so, had to get Epyon_Avenger on the case, my digital savior. I packed up for the weekend and attempted to sleep from 1 Am to 5 Am so we could leave at 6 Am. great plan, meanwhile, T1nk stayed up all night packing and such, just gonna sleep the whole way down, which she did. Left bright and early at about 7 am (of course), watched the sun come up as we drove down I-5, the varicose vein of the crack that is the central valley of California. Constantly paranoid and fighting my fatigue-to-hunger-to-"whatwasthatnoise?!wasitthecar?!" syndrome we made a few stops along the way. tried to talk pievuhg into letting us try and sneak her into the MouseLand around Anaheim, but she wouldn't have it. At that point I thought, "oh good, almost there, not much farther" my spacial recollection of the location of Anaheim to San Diego is still skewed. the last 2-3 hours of the drive were painful for me, I had no idea where i was going again, and of course, instead of -continue on I-5, then left on suchandsuch lane- it was, okay merge onto this highway, now this highway, now left, right, right, up, down, select, start, WTF!? apparently our sweet hookup to stay over is atop the only mountain in the basin (t1nk is NOT cool with windy roads, especially if they're atop a fucking cliff) and so TEN FUCKING HOURS after leaving, we had arrived. Got lost shortly thereafter attempting to locate civilization at the bottom of the hill, had chipotle (so fuckin tasty) and found THE EASY WAY back up the hill to our HQ for the weekend. slept like the dead.

T1nk and I woke up at . . . ? 7:30 am? 8? because we were gonna drop Pievuhg off at the con and head north back to Anaheim. Apparently Pievuhg was welcomed with booze the night before and was nursing a hangover and finally at about 9am T1nk and I realized she wasn't leaving with us. BAM, off to Walt's World. Rode rides and all that, forgot my lanyard (yes, t1nk got me hooked on pin trading the trip I proposed to her [blog about that later, I'm sure] but its actually very fun and I have a sixth sense for hidden mickey's, I'm like a boar to truffles. I just think a pin is cool, but when we look closer, there's ears. anyway) but still snagged a slick lanyard weight, AND, we caught the Electrical Parade. that shit was awesome, the intro music is really the best part. It broke down, sat there for 3 mins, and a deisel pull cart rolled up and pulled it along. it was awesome. I want to be an electrical bug, that looks like so much fun.
made it back to HQ without incident, ready to attack Comic Con '09 fast and hard, just like me, OH!

Anime Amusement

(An expansion of a 10 second review I gave at my last job to some costumers who are now good acquaintances. You know who you are, "sport/sparky" )

Lately I have been attempting to boost my anime intake. The current surge started earlier this year in hopes and an attempt to be a little more well versed by the time Fanime '09 hit. So, I started with an anime house I know and love, Gainax . So, I went through the catalog in the Wikki ( I know, I know, wikki is like that guy you hang out with who's always right and knows everything, and is usually basing what he knows on truth but the fucker hasn't even graduated college yet, gee, sounds a lot like me. Maybe that's why I like it. But anyway, its a good enough start for me.)

I have ingested Neon Genesis: Evangelion (good luck with just that link, if you don't know already, you might want to take a few days to fully explore it.) previously, as my first full anime, and I loved it. More on that later, as well as FLCL, um . . . same as I said with EVA, and so my choice was colored.

More recently I lovingly consumed Otaku no Video which continues to be a staple of the Otaku condition in my eyes. Then Ebichu which is ridiculous awesome, but try and find translations w/explanations cause there's a lot of cultural/wordplay goin on in that shit.

And then, ah yes, Tengen Toppa Gurren Laggan .

(near exact quote from conversation)
"You remember how Eva was like, rape your brain and leave you broken in an alley and never calls you back? well Gurren, Gainax's only Mecha since then, it takes you out for a lovely dinner, takes you back to it's place, then fucks you in your ear hole, but at least uses lube and says it will call if you want it to. And you do, oh do you!"

I was at both Gurren events at Fanime, and they were awesome. There are better documented occurrences of them than I could post, but I don't know where they are, maybe I will post them later, but, I will say this.

(Tweet)
h47 Asking the panelists questions in rapid fire japanese is CHEATING!

I have since moved on to milking the series Melody of OBlivion . Its not as awesome as Gurren or Eva, yet, but its very old school, combines several elements that don't make sense together. I dig the music, the art style, makes me feel nostalgic when I watch it, like I'm 16 again watching eva in VHS all alone. odd.

Yeah, I think it was Mjerk who told me this, but I use it still to this day. The recipe for any good anime is at least 3 things that don't go together. Eva? Kids, mechs, theology. (yes theres many more) Cowboy BeBop? Kids, space ships, Yakuza. The list just goes on.

Aright, im bloggered out. More later.

A Ballad I Ran

A Time or two ago there was a man who traveled afar
He traipsed across the countryside and frequented inns and bars
Through his travels and adventures he gained fortune and fame
A bard, a hero, a scoundrel, Ran Dansin was his name.

For a time he had not been seen in all his home lands
Twas rumored he was in other worlds or simply relaxing on the sands
The world was still young, not all places had been traveled
One merely had to seek out beasts to quickly be unraveled

One of these creatures awoke and sought out destruction
none can recall what it was called, just that it caused great disruption
needless to say it was of an evil way, terrorized and slew
a few tried to get it to die, but none knew exactly what to do

The beast had been sighted near a hamlet, the folks shook with fear
but over the crest of a hill, a merry tune being sung, they did hear
a tall hat with checkered pattern and wear, atop a man with great stride
an overlarge nose, odd cape, boots with red fringe and a rapier at his side.

Turn away traveler, the townspeople warned,
a beast most fowl and its company you should scorn
HA! cried the man, a good song it will make
Bring me your strongest willing bodies and, perhaps some tea and cake?

so assembled, the few of the village who were true
they wondered at this odd man and wondered at his world view
as to the creature, what does it do he inquired after tea
it tears and bites and knocks down walls, none has returned that did see

The crumpets were delicious, he said, but use creme instead of milk
as for this creature, i might be wearing one of its ilk
do you have any remnants from an earlier attack?
why yes, some piped up, our old great uncle, carl and aunt jack

they brought forth a pretty thing of lace and set it below Dansin's face
ah, mayhaps were they tailors and this was their last piece
no it was jacks, the two were lost in the last attack
oh, eheh, gimme a moment to inspect the item, in the meanwhile, have any sack?

so they brought for a jug a few went glug-alug and dansin sat in thought
he turned the fabric this way and that and sniffed it an awful lot
after the booze had been drunk up, he suddenly jumped
i know this creature, ive fought one before and have a trump

he flipped off his hat and placed it upside down and began to dig within it
he cursed and hooted and jumped once or twice, the bottomed seem to have no limit
till finally he pulled out a bottle as well as a fishing pole
and to the questioning looks he replied, im not getting close to it would any of you souls?

he set out to the hillside where the monster was last seen, other brave townies in tow
he hooked the bottle to the pole and set it in a tree, and said, watch how we do this just so
they waited in quiet, they waited in fear, the suspense was great at the time
then it got late, and a few yawned and graped, but then, there was a tug at the line

all of them sweated and strained to see, but the dusk confused their sight
they knew it was the beast from the snarls and teeth against bottle, its bite
Ran just held the pole, line slack and limp, he didnt real or tug, just sat
then the line went taught, the bottle went crash, and the villagers froze where they were at

coughing and wheezing and howling and screaming came from the beast
then slowly but surely the ruckus got quieter and the it made noise the least.
Ran waited an extra moment then said that should do it and just strolled towards the bait
and the people heard him say we live but for this thing, its too late

it took a few minutes for the truth to sink in, but at last the people knew
the thing was no more , they were safe now, for Dansin had slew
but they heard knife against bone and grunt and slash and feared for Ran's life
one brave went to Dansin, but found him knee deep in its blood and in his hand a new bone fife

my companion got the last one, he said with blood on his brow
i only got this belt, but balls to him, i have the set now
the creature was unrecognizable, what it was only Dansin knew
but the leather was supple and its meat made a great stew

at the banquet that morning many inquired what the bottle was
Dansin told them truthfully, it was no more than dandelion and suds
they were dumbfounded, and stunned, to believe many were loath
Ran calmly explained, that that creature was fiercely allergic to both

A Time or two ago there was a man who traveled afar
He traipsed across the countryside and frequented inns and bars
Through his travels and adventures he gained fortune and fame
A bard, a hero, a scoundrel, Ran Dansin was his name.

3rd 4 t3h NRRD! Monthly music.

I found it eerie and fortuitous that the last time I really spoke of nerdcore was last 3rd (of June) mayhaps I can maintain a monthly set schedule for blathering about beatmasters and lyricwrights? (probably not, so don't get your hopes up.)
This months Nerdcore Artist is the band Optimus Rhyme. Their site is over NYAH! and you can buy some of their music hierNYAH.
Based out of the wet north (hehe, wet . . ) of Seattle, Washington, the Autobeats (yes, they embrace their theme) seek to destroy all Wackacons. With tight guitar tickling, steady bass rhythms with some phunky skank on em, steady crashes from the drums, all give a garage band feel to set Wheelie Cyberman's rapid-fire clean and clear lyrics against.
Honestly, this is one of my favorite artists. Wheelie has a wicked flow, can keep the words pounding and bouncing like a cheap . . . well, and he keeps his voice running the scale like high school bleachers.
If there's one thing that will start to turn me off about most nerdcore rappers is the monotone, one note, speaking fast, bull. Yes rapping is heavily comprised of dense verbage, but its also a MUSIC style, which means, unless you're as good as Cake (which in my opinion, still matches the little variation he has to the overall songs) get some music theory in your spit, j0!
aright, back on to Optimus Rhyme . . . I'm also a bit of a sucker for things that stick to a theme and do it well. O.R. does this. The pseudonyms the band uses when they're performing are amusing, as well as a greater portion of the catalog uses the transformers theme as song content. Another selling point is that although they embrace the theme, they dont nessecarily beat you over the head with it. Not every song is literally "we autobots, hur, hur, wackacons esplode when we play, yay!" well, one or two are like that, but by and large the songs accept that they exist in this reality and don't beleaguer the point. At least for me.
As mentioned before, I love the guitar. Powerthighs lays it down by keeping a steady back drop, but definitely keeps the strings taught and tickles them mercilessly. He can drop down and meld with the group to create a harmonious sound, but brings it right back up for fast fingered audio filigree.
Stumblebee, the bassist, do what a bass do. Sets a steady line that the rest of the band may walk, but when you walk, you gotta have a swagger if you're as bad ass as an autobot. When not keeping it steady he throws down and rumbles the speakers, dancing the chords with an ease and skill that would make the fleetest of fingered lesb . . . what? Music is sensual. well, actually, the bass, its so phunky. I'm shaking my own head typing this at how this doesn't even begin to describe it.
As for Grimrock, honestly, he does what any good drummer needs to do. Plays so well you don't realize he's there. Honestly! A lot of nerdcore is geek rap, right? Most of it is back beats and samples with an MC in front of it. For someone to be a live beat machine, and stay in sync with a live band, AND stay steady with a repetitive beat setup, is a challenge. Its a mix of paying attention, staying IN the music and keeping tempo. Not a task for the flippant and lame. Serious kudos to the kicker/thumper of Optimus Rhyme.
Choice songs include -Anxiety- off the album "TransF0Rmed" - Powder Blue Egg Hatch- & -JZ75- off their self titled EP, "Optimus Rhyme" (in case you didint realize) and also -AUTOBEAT AIRBUS- off "School The Indie Rockers"
All of those are very high energy songs, but that's one of the reasons I enjoy them so. That should wrap it up for now. Nerdcore 4 life, microsoft-WERD!