Many of us are gamers. Even fewer, are Table-Top gamers. It takes a special breed of nerd to partake of the truly . . . unique experience that is assembling like minded individuals for a session of shared imagining.
A skit by the Dead Alewives has had a massive resonance with my own personal experience and I think I could venture to assume it has impacted others who have come before me and those who shall come after.
HERE is the audio file, but I recommend watching both of the videos below.
AND, the less known, but, in my opinion, just as accurate and amusing SECOND SKIT. Stick it in your ear hole while shoving cheetos in your Mt. Dew hole!
H
O
L
E
!!!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Bonus Nerd Friendly Rap: MC Chris
(Due to the late 3rd 4 t3h Nrrd I thought this might be a good choice to put up. I have another for MC Lars should the occasion arise. Enoy!)
SO MUCH AWESOME!!!!! This high pitched home slice has been working and moving for a while and if you don't know who he is but are reading this blog even partially on purpose you are probably familiar with his work. He also goes by MC Pee Pants and originally Chris Ward. He has done work all over Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, specifically on Aqua Teen Hunger Force as well as others. He is a mover and shaker throwing down his sub-pop-culture awareness everywhere he goes, and as indicative of the hilarious skits on his albums hes good at telling a joke.
Here is a one of my favorite clips of him breaking down his thoughts on a beloved "JRPG"
But WAIT! Yes, he's funny, and he makes a great Dungeon Master of Ceremonies, AND he gets work on a internationally known television network, big deal? THATS NOT ALL!!
Check these fat beats and slick rhymes.
you might have heard this one . . . somewhere . . .
this one is for Theatreg33k!
Regardless of self labels and relationships with "communities" MC Chris is a great Hip Hop Artist, he raps about content I enjoy, the music gets me moving and I hope to continue to see him tour and produce. MC CHRIS IS NOT DEAD!
SO MUCH AWESOME!!!!! This high pitched home slice has been working and moving for a while and if you don't know who he is but are reading this blog even partially on purpose you are probably familiar with his work. He also goes by MC Pee Pants and originally Chris Ward. He has done work all over Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, specifically on Aqua Teen Hunger Force as well as others. He is a mover and shaker throwing down his sub-pop-culture awareness everywhere he goes, and as indicative of the hilarious skits on his albums hes good at telling a joke.
Here is a one of my favorite clips of him breaking down his thoughts on a beloved "JRPG"
But WAIT! Yes, he's funny, and he makes a great Dungeon Master of Ceremonies, AND he gets work on a internationally known television network, big deal? THATS NOT ALL!!
Check these fat beats and slick rhymes.
you might have heard this one . . . somewhere . . .
this one is for Theatreg33k!
Regardless of self labels and relationships with "communities" MC Chris is a great Hip Hop Artist, he raps about content I enjoy, the music gets me moving and I hope to continue to see him tour and produce. MC CHRIS IS NOT DEAD!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Fake, Fo' Real
"I do not wish to keep it real. Well, maybe realistic. I like to keep it fantastic. Or for the vulgar, keep it fake." I said this to an acquaintance of mine when she asked if I was "keeping it real?" I thought about it for a second to come up with a jibe or trite comment because I'm a snarky jerk, but instead it struck a philosophical chord with me.
Shortly after saying that it got me to thinking on how I'm big on escapism and fantasy as a way to get away from what the greater world imposes upon me.
Perhaps this is why Nerdcore can be so easily seen as a parody. In many ways it is, but I think this comes from the natural self deprecation of many nerds and geeks. I have heard countless nerdcore songs that have lame, flat, rambling about how un-hard they are and just as most of our universal dialogue is, it's very self aware.
Are we not being true to ourselves if we don't examine and acknowledge these themes in our art? I find the parody purely acceptable. Being a culture of outcasts mocked and mocking, to point at ourselves is only natural.
Just to be hypocritical though, I do know should an artist who isn't "blatantly geeky" make "nerdcore mock" music he would be chastised by the community. Or if the songs are openly belittling of hip hop roots and culture that thats not fair out of context. I believe many elements of modern and even older mainstream hip hop are "worthy" of some jokes and parody, but I think the mockER should be educated on their subject and informed of what they do.
Oh art, you so crazy. And if you don't like these couple of pennies feel free to leave them in the little tin below, someone else might need them.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
3rd 4 T3h Nrrd: July '10
We've looked at the Godfather, The King, a couple Doctors, but this time, we look to The Darklord!
Schaffer (sorry I cant make the little umlauts over the "a") The Darklord, Or, STD. An east coast host with, quite a bit to offer musically and as a REAL Master of Ceremonies. How many nerds do you know host Geektacular Burlesque shows on a regular basis AND are married to very attractive doctors?
I really like STD, but I'm not as huge into the music of his music, but I like the content, I like the beats, I like the lyrics and I love the guy. I just don't like the musicality of his vocals, and I'm not sure if he cares.
Tangent: Am I being too picky? Am I so inundated with auto tune and mass produced hip hop that I WANT my music, my "ear art" to be on key and in tune with the beats? Or is rap that much born of spoken word that I shouldn't care? This isn't about STD specifically either, Mr. Dangerously has acknowledged this occurrence and I greatly support him in his growth as an artist and continue to enjoy his personal betterment. I guess that is one of the things that is that difficult and if and when I start producing my own music I need to watch out for? Anyway, back to the music.
This cat is hard at work. I've managed to hear something about him or of him every year for the last three or four years and he just has great gigs. It doesn't sound like hes tours but he does perform all over the U.S. and crank's out album's fairly consistently. He currently has three out and you can even get him on iTunes.
Regardless of my own audio hang ups, I like STD and I want to see him keep doing his thing. Love the way he works and the projects he's involved with and I plan to grab those albums and make my co-workers listen to them.
Remember kids, don't fear the Rappist!
Schaffer (sorry I cant make the little umlauts over the "a") The Darklord, Or, STD. An east coast host with, quite a bit to offer musically and as a REAL Master of Ceremonies. How many nerds do you know host Geektacular Burlesque shows on a regular basis AND are married to very attractive doctors?
I really like STD, but I'm not as huge into the music of his music, but I like the content, I like the beats, I like the lyrics and I love the guy. I just don't like the musicality of his vocals, and I'm not sure if he cares.
Tangent: Am I being too picky? Am I so inundated with auto tune and mass produced hip hop that I WANT my music, my "ear art" to be on key and in tune with the beats? Or is rap that much born of spoken word that I shouldn't care? This isn't about STD specifically either, Mr. Dangerously has acknowledged this occurrence and I greatly support him in his growth as an artist and continue to enjoy his personal betterment. I guess that is one of the things that is that difficult and if and when I start producing my own music I need to watch out for? Anyway, back to the music.
This cat is hard at work. I've managed to hear something about him or of him every year for the last three or four years and he just has great gigs. It doesn't sound like hes tours but he does perform all over the U.S. and crank's out album's fairly consistently. He currently has three out and you can even get him on iTunes.
Regardless of my own audio hang ups, I like STD and I want to see him keep doing his thing. Love the way he works and the projects he's involved with and I plan to grab those albums and make my co-workers listen to them.
Remember kids, don't fear the Rappist!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
You actually WANTED to play!?
I lovingly follow Playing D&D With Porn Stars (don't worry about that adult warning, it's very much like mine, "just in case") and I Hit It With My Axe. Recently Zak posed a certain question which raised my eyebrows and maybe something else. So I mulled it over while I searched for more similar photos, for research, of course.
One of my theories include, either these girls were hanging out with a certain type of guy. Proto-geeks, I guess I would call them. I was friends with a few and they could hide their nerd well when called for. they were on the varsity football team, they got horrible grades, one even went on a family hunting vacation every year and missed a month of school in order to kill things. BUT! they were my best friends through jr. high and early high school. they loved video games, had a good internet understanding and we played D&D, religiously. I've met a few guys who I think they turned into after high school/college and they're not particularly charming, nor do they outwardly display their nerdery as it would single them out as week and un-manly. I have also encountered the smokin hot chicks they attract and associate with, who . . big surprise, could, would and SHOULD be openly fantastically geeky. They are attracted to "jerks" which, oooh boy, we were, and then when confronted with a female either they hid the fact that there was a nerdy bone in their body in order to GET that nerdy bone in her body, OR, the female would snort, deride, or be passive about her request to play, being constantly socially aware of how she is perceived as a female in jr./sr. high and heaven forbid, the burping grunting drooling geek boys before her should think less or little of her for wanting to play a "boy's game." The question might sound something like "Really? Elves and dragons and trolls? Weird(potential code for wrong or stupid). How does that work?" Which translates to "that looks like fun, can I play?" But the boy's hear, "Your game is weird, tell me more so I can make fun of you and not have sex with you ever, and tell other girls to never have sex with you and tell the whole world (all two dozen people we know) how big of a retard you are (yes, retard, because we are all that mean we just learn to curb it, most of us.) The answer is would be something along the lines of "Here's the book," or maybe even "here, let me roll you a character" and then I know in our case her first and only session involves, "you see an elven female, wearing a cloak, boots, a sword and a smile," and the DM promptly gets slapped on the arm and she leaves.
That went off on a good tangent, not sure if it helped. The jist of it was, some of these guys were jerks and become bigger jerks and certain females are attracted to that much "confidence." Although I'm mostly speculating because I only knew two girls who had the slightest interest in participating, and I dated both of them. One moved 3 hours away and my friends didn't like her, and the other, we didn't hang out after we broke up and she had a different agenda in high school.
An actual scenario posited by Theatreg33k is that when they actually attempt to play they are left to their own devices much like guys do with guys, and if you ask for help more than three or four times OR you ask something more complex than "which die is that" the guys get frustrated and then she gets upset and then nobody had fun. I have done this myself, I feel like the biggest jerk ever, I say it's because I know how smart I believe she is and this is why I cant GM, group/raid lead in wow or watch her play video games. She also comments on how a girl changes the dynamic drastically. And it's not just girls, others have talked about, and I will probably too at some point, how one person can change a social situation by miles, doesn't matter. But specifically, dude's don't always know how to conduct themselves around a female friend or even one of their significant others and the "dick joke quota" drops drastically. Amazing insight, I know.
Let me get back to the original question, why would teenage boys say no to a teenage girl? More specifically, why they wouldn't let her play. It ties into the jerk complex above, where the girl just isn't invited. Or maybe adding a new player in the middle of a game who doesn't know the system at all can be a pain.
Oh teenage psycho-emotional issues, how you plague our lives. Remember guys, don't deny you want to have sex with your friend, just don't tell her every hour, and try to be friends with her first. If she wants to make out with you, it will probably happen. Unless she's an anime kid, then you have more problems, BUT fix them by watching anime.
One of my theories include, either these girls were hanging out with a certain type of guy. Proto-geeks, I guess I would call them. I was friends with a few and they could hide their nerd well when called for. they were on the varsity football team, they got horrible grades, one even went on a family hunting vacation every year and missed a month of school in order to kill things. BUT! they were my best friends through jr. high and early high school. they loved video games, had a good internet understanding and we played D&D, religiously. I've met a few guys who I think they turned into after high school/college and they're not particularly charming, nor do they outwardly display their nerdery as it would single them out as week and un-manly. I have also encountered the smokin hot chicks they attract and associate with, who . . big surprise, could, would and SHOULD be openly fantastically geeky. They are attracted to "jerks" which, oooh boy, we were, and then when confronted with a female either they hid the fact that there was a nerdy bone in their body in order to GET that nerdy bone in her body, OR, the female would snort, deride, or be passive about her request to play, being constantly socially aware of how she is perceived as a female in jr./sr. high and heaven forbid, the burping grunting drooling geek boys before her should think less or little of her for wanting to play a "boy's game." The question might sound something like "Really? Elves and dragons and trolls? Weird(potential code for wrong or stupid). How does that work?" Which translates to "that looks like fun, can I play?" But the boy's hear, "Your game is weird, tell me more so I can make fun of you and not have sex with you ever, and tell other girls to never have sex with you and tell the whole world (all two dozen people we know) how big of a retard you are (yes, retard, because we are all that mean we just learn to curb it, most of us.) The answer is would be something along the lines of "Here's the book," or maybe even "here, let me roll you a character" and then I know in our case her first and only session involves, "you see an elven female, wearing a cloak, boots, a sword and a smile," and the DM promptly gets slapped on the arm and she leaves.
That went off on a good tangent, not sure if it helped. The jist of it was, some of these guys were jerks and become bigger jerks and certain females are attracted to that much "confidence." Although I'm mostly speculating because I only knew two girls who had the slightest interest in participating, and I dated both of them. One moved 3 hours away and my friends didn't like her, and the other, we didn't hang out after we broke up and she had a different agenda in high school.
An actual scenario posited by Theatreg33k is that when they actually attempt to play they are left to their own devices much like guys do with guys, and if you ask for help more than three or four times OR you ask something more complex than "which die is that" the guys get frustrated and then she gets upset and then nobody had fun. I have done this myself, I feel like the biggest jerk ever, I say it's because I know how smart I believe she is and this is why I cant GM, group/raid lead in wow or watch her play video games. She also comments on how a girl changes the dynamic drastically. And it's not just girls, others have talked about, and I will probably too at some point, how one person can change a social situation by miles, doesn't matter. But specifically, dude's don't always know how to conduct themselves around a female friend or even one of their significant others and the "dick joke quota" drops drastically. Amazing insight, I know.
Let me get back to the original question, why would teenage boys say no to a teenage girl? More specifically, why they wouldn't let her play. It ties into the jerk complex above, where the girl just isn't invited. Or maybe adding a new player in the middle of a game who doesn't know the system at all can be a pain.
Oh teenage psycho-emotional issues, how you plague our lives. Remember guys, don't deny you want to have sex with your friend, just don't tell her every hour, and try to be friends with her first. If she wants to make out with you, it will probably happen. Unless she's an anime kid, then you have more problems, BUT fix them by watching anime.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Something Everyone Should Try Once
So, this should probably be a Meme-Orable but It's not really a meme and I felt weird about posting those random "this is a vid" posts, you know what I mean?
I also need SOMETHING to put up today, because I care.
I promise, I promise, I will put up a 3rd 4 t3h nrrd before the end of the month and have one ready to go by aug 3rd.
I also think I'll have more from Azzeroth and our weird friend who cant keep his author/persons/tenses correct, Termenus, or maybe even a new correspondent.
----------------------------------
Today I offer something fun I forget where from, but hopefully the crew keeps going with their zany antics.
Their site can be found here, it looks like tons of fun.
And, for a little literary respite, I present THIS amusing diatribe, that I hope to use as a monologue some time.
I also need SOMETHING to put up today, because I care.
I promise, I promise, I will put up a 3rd 4 t3h nrrd before the end of the month and have one ready to go by aug 3rd.
I also think I'll have more from Azzeroth and our weird friend who cant keep his author/persons/tenses correct, Termenus, or maybe even a new correspondent.
----------------------------------
Today I offer something fun I forget where from, but hopefully the crew keeps going with their zany antics.
Their site can be found here, it looks like tons of fun.
And, for a little literary respite, I present THIS amusing diatribe, that I hope to use as a monologue some time.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Red, Black and Blue
Hello again Azzerothians, Termenus here, Lord of the Frost, Penguin King, Disciple of Vargoth, Incredible Tanking Mage, Of Stonard, and now . . . . Raid Leader!
You heard right, I too am a coordinator of increased repair bills as of last night night. I led half a dozen Lords and a few great Pick Ups into the Ruby Sanctum 10man Regular and we were almost victorious.
Yes, almost. And I am very proud of that. It is new content, It was my first real raid lead and it is equiv difficulty as 1st/2nd wing of ICC, clearing everything except the last boss is nothing to sneeze at.
True, had it been a raid full of Lords who are currently well into the final wing of 25 man ICC we would almost definitely have finished the whole thing in much quicker time, but . . . those guildies were IN 25 man ICC with our cousin guild. I had to find 2 PUG tanks and 2 PUG dps.
Then we had to tweak and refine our coordination together as a raid. Like I said, Pride.
On top of all this, I LOVE the new content. Its small, short and smart, like I like my women! All of the encounters have unique mechanics and skill checks are even more necessary than gear.
You heard right, I too am a coordinator of increased repair bills as of last night night. I led half a dozen Lords and a few great Pick Ups into the Ruby Sanctum 10man Regular and we were almost victorious.
Yes, almost. And I am very proud of that. It is new content, It was my first real raid lead and it is equiv difficulty as 1st/2nd wing of ICC, clearing everything except the last boss is nothing to sneeze at.
True, had it been a raid full of Lords who are currently well into the final wing of 25 man ICC we would almost definitely have finished the whole thing in much quicker time, but . . . those guildies were IN 25 man ICC with our cousin guild. I had to find 2 PUG tanks and 2 PUG dps.
Then we had to tweak and refine our coordination together as a raid. Like I said, Pride.
On top of all this, I LOVE the new content. Its small, short and smart, like I like my women! All of the encounters have unique mechanics and skill checks are even more necessary than gear.
The first mini-boss gave us some serious issues as our initial OT was under geared, as well as I have heard from other players that it is a difficult fight on its own. After about 6 wipes (I know, I know) the OT aggreed to hop over to his raid healer, we found another OT and one of our dps PUGs who was of weak constitution dropped and was replaced by another Lord. The last pull, our OT dropped AGAIN, BUT our MT grabbed both "bosses" and we downed him.
"Second" mini-boss, has a fun aerial phase and a debuff dynamic that keeps things interesting, one shot her.
Even the trash kept us on our toes in RS10reg, as there are two large 5-mob pulls between the first two and 3rd mini-bosses. They have a "captain" 2 melee bruisers, and two caster mobs, we ended up having to separate them than single target dps switching from each tank's group. very clean, old school pull style. Great fun.
TANGENT!!
I have been noticing allot of other players commenting on my old school style of play. When I tank on my warrior I use alot of LOS (Line of Sight) pulls and I really want to use CC even though allot of dps nowadays just AoE and attacks whatever they want. I would mark mobs, but in Heroics and such, so many people know the fights so well and expect the tank to be flawless that it doesn't give one time to do these things. When I'm on Term I find myself wondering if we should CC on pulls that give us problems, but once more, everyone expects the tanks to be able to AOE tank and hold it while everyone else goes apeshit. For more on my thoughts about the ROLE of DPS, go HERE!
Back to the Raid:
3rd mini-boss is a bit of a trick and we got a little sloppy, but managed to one shot it. The communication was very good and everyone was on their toes on heals & damage focus.
Halion, the actual boss. After 5 minutes of attempting to explain the fight, which is a bit intricate, there are 3 phases but the third one combines the first two at the same time and you ALSO have to coordinate dps. We wiped twice, we had been at it for about 3 hours with no gear, only 3 badges. After the second wipe, I asked fro a ready check to see who wanted to call it a night and a fewe people voted out so we stopped there.
Here it is, Ruby Sanctum, all cleared except last boss.
If you end up in a lame group, this Raid could REALLY suck, I'm sure, but I know I will want to be running this instance every chance I get.
See you around the Worlds of Warcraft.
-Termenus
Friday, July 2, 2010
FailH47
I fail! I don't have a 3rd 4 t3h nrrd ready to post and I don't have any Meme-Orables finished. I am very sorry.
I WILL be at Anime Expo Saturday and I am sure I will be tweeting my misadventures with my lovely fiance.
Despair not, unsavories! I will return with all the sub-par updates and ill-informed opinions soon next week. And I will have a 3rd 4 t3h Nrrd up late.
Stay with me, and I will get back to schedule shortly.
Thanks!
I WILL be at Anime Expo Saturday and I am sure I will be tweeting my misadventures with my lovely fiance.
Despair not, unsavories! I will return with all the sub-par updates and ill-informed opinions soon next week. And I will have a 3rd 4 t3h Nrrd up late.
Stay with me, and I will get back to schedule shortly.
Thanks!
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