Holdups

Imma shoot straight with ya H47ites. I know I'm behind on my 3rd 4 t3h nrrd, even though i have one researched, & I know my updates have been spotty and random. I know it sounds like I have a serious case of the Piro's Disease (see Trope  ) but honestly, Life has hit me in the balls harder than usual.
Dead car, sick grama, feeble mother who can't perform tasks needed to quell grama, rehearsal, fight directing at rehearsals, building set for rehearsals, work at a job where we HAD full strength but 3/4 of staff now have second jobs that prioritize over this one, leaving myself and the manager with the most flexible schedules, AND I HAVE A SHOW, plus trying to find time to take the CBEST so I can start a "real job" while I start on my Masters Degree. Oh yeah, and we're going to Comic Con next weekend and literally only have 1/3 the funds to pay for it all.
Sorry for the rant, but as per Joesky's law, here are cool things

HAwkings, has a sense of humor . . . .



The music itself lacks the "UMPH" of the original, but I do enjoy the whole thing on its own.


and . .  something I would have probabaly done if i'd had a camera when I was that young, cute

"Arrested"

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!

Con-Flicts

[Warning!!! If you wish to use that hour of your life in a much more productive way, Do not read this post, wait for thurs/friday, The meme-orable should be chuckle worthy, I warned you.]

Alright H47ites, ready for a r4n7? To make up for it I will try my best to throw up memeorables and so forth up until 3rd 4 t3h nrrd next month (unless of course the Rapture comes Saturday, then we have bigger issues).

Alright! I work at a store in the bay area that sells blades. Specifically swords & knives. That's kinda what we're known for. We also sell airsoft guns, what I call "gothic kitch" which is mostly dragon, pixie & Egypt statues & fake skulls. A little bit of chess, some cool "high end alternative fashion" such as Lip Service, and neat jewelry from Alchemy Gothic. The thing we like to tell ourselves is that what sets us apart from everything is not only our eclectic & eccentric merchandise is our staff and expertise. If you're here you're either a friend of mine being nice and/or you find me witty/entertaining or are a mental masochist and find my ramblings painful, in a good way.

Yeah, the store is called Armor-Geddon.

We have been a vendor for about 3+ years at WonderCon slinging steel left and right. Although I don't pay too close attention to the numbers, our most constant sellers are fake weapons, like foam swords, plastic swords and wooden practice swords. As well as novelty butterfly items including trainers (dull, can not be sharpened), bottle openers, pens (Bali-Yo's, word up Spyderco!), and seatbelt cutter multi-tools. And third best sellers I'd say are goofy fake fantasy knives and knock off anime swords (as much as I love to promote copyright protection and licensed merchandise, they dont exist for these swords. We have licensed replicas of any sword we think will sell, but they often cost WAY too much for what they are and are even more difficult to track down, and this is from a guy who honestly believes $300 for a sword is a good price to pay). For a few years we've been doing this and never heard of any issue what so ever. sometimes we sell the occasional benchmade on the side since we bring a small display, but that is mostly because we know some customers from The City who love it when we come to Wondercon, we give them a little deal and they get a new blade from two companies they trust (Us & Benchmade) no harm. We card, we have procedures on how to handle items and we have 2 people in the booth (or 3) at all times watching the merch.

This year (Wondercon 2011) we roll into the Moscone center with all our display and merchandise for the weekend and get started with setup. Our store has PAID for two booths, checked in for the show, sold THE SAME ITEMS for AT LEAST two years previously with no complaints. We spend about SIX HOURS in the center, our booth is built, we are just putting the bulk of the blades up, and a gentleman in a suit comes up and asks to talk to our manager.

We are still investigating what exactly is going on, but the information I received from our manager was effectively, There is now a cap on the number of Blade Vendors at Wondercon, we are not on the list of allowed vendors, we were allowed to go about or business THIS YEAR, but it did NOT sound like we would be allowed to sell swords next year. Also, come Sunday morning of the show, we were asked to no longer sell PRACTICE butterfly items. From what my manager could tell me (I have not pressed on this particular subject, but some of you may know English is not her first language so sometimes it takes time to fully communicate ideas and concepts) there was no reason given to us as to why we could no longer sell these items.

Now, I hope in the future, definitely before next Wondercon, to have some more elaborate answers, but that is the tale of our Wondercon Conundrum so far.

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Fanime:
To anyone who really cares to stalk me, its fairly easy to deduce I currently live in Santa Clara county in California. I work in Cupertino, I attended San Jose State University, I do theatre all over the silicon Valley, and "MY" local Con is FANIME!

Because Wondercon had been going so well (in 2010) our store decided to try to branch out to other conventions. Fanime only made the most sense. Fanime 2010 I had done some scouting in the Exhibitors hall and saw about three vendors who had full blade displays and a few other exhibitors with a bunch of blades as part of a larger inventory. From my observations I felt we had a solid chance to make some money as well as, the most important thing in my opinion, to represent at "our(local)" con and let more of our local nerds know we exist.
As our main sellers are the practice weapons (foam, wood "plastic"), something I saw in short supply at the other vendors, I felt we would not encroach too much on the other booths market. As well as, from what I could tell, our store brings a larger supply of higher end weapons to shows than the other vendors had displayed. This would allow locals who wanted a high end item to know where they could acquire one if they wanted to spend all their cash at the con and then come by after their next paycheck/allowance date.
Additionally, perhaps they ARE biased, but I have yet to hear anything to the contrary, countless customers, a few mentions online, and informed opinions of people WHO WORK FANIME, our store has more approachable and knowledgeable staff, and as I said, we bring higher quality merchandise for our booth spread.

Anyway. November rolls around, the Fanime website has still not updated (as I understand is Fanime is all run by volunteers, so everyone gets some slack, just telling the story) but the dealer email is still the same so I shoot off an email. within the end of the month I receive an email telling us that there are too many weapons vendors already and that no more will be allowed. In November of 2010, and the website has not even updated for 2011. Okay, fine, perhaps the vendors are more on the ball than the IT department, perhaps there is a seniority to the vendors, fine. Perhaps we can work something out?

Besides, we are working on a collaborative effort with The Twilight Knights, a local martial Arts group who teach weapons classes every year at Fanime, to make special training weapons packages for their classes this year (see store for more details). We figure we might have an in (at that time).

Shortly after this rebuff, I rally the store and shoot off another email, the bulk of the email i sent read:

"That sounds fantastic, we will feel right at home then. We don't actually sell all that much steel at conventions and trade shows, the majority of our inventory and sales are comprised of collectible items (such as lightsabres and pop culture paraphernalia), Martial arts clothing . . ."

" . . . we hope to move a large amount of training items. Also, many of your own staff in the vendor hall in previous years, not to mention many con-goers in the area, have expressed joy over the last year (since Fanime 2010) at the idea that they will be attending Fanime and looking forward to some of deals we intend to offer as one of the newest vendors.

Although We do carry, and had hoped to bring along a few edged items of high quality and unique origin compared to the products other booths normally carry, we had not intended in bringing anywhere near 30% of our inventory as live weapons or "anime blades."

At this time we had only hoped to acquire a single booth space, our goal being dominantly to have representation at (in a local sense) "Our Con" and let the attendees at Fanime know they have a shop that is local that serves several needs that link into the fandom that the convention was based upon.

We can't wait to receive the vendor info for registration as it has not yet been placed on the website, but we have been studying the 2010 contract in hopes it will resemble this years."

Our store gets busy with Holiday season, I get busy with a show, Wondercon goes by (yes, this last one) I start getting nervous about Fanime because I STILL had not heard a reply one way or the other. So I shoot off another email, last week actually, this is the whole email, minus names & such:

"This is Armor-Geddon again with great concern as to our ability to procure a booth in the Exhibitors hall at this year's Fanime. We realize we are mere weeks away but still have hope to purchase a booth from which we may advertise ourselves as a local company to potential customers and revel in your festival of fandom.

Due to your last correspondence we received we are under the impression that you may have reservations allowing us to have a booth in the hall due to our most commonly perceived merchandise.

We also presumed our reply email might ease those conceptions and allow us begin the registration process but received no reply in the affirmative or the negative.

If it is the intent of the Fanime Exhibitor to have a certain cap on "weapons vendors," then we will respect that. However, does that exclude our shop if we dominantly carry; apparel, jewelry, fantasy statuettes, collectables, sample catalogs of items we carry in shop, or even provide a photo opportunity setup as not only has our store been described as a destination, we are proud to have award winning cosplayers working with us, at the booth? Of course we would like to be able to display some of our higher profile items (at the expense of the inability to sell them on-site), but, if necessary, we are willing to work on an item-by-item basis in order to ensure we are able to attend and that your hall reflects the type of exhibitors you wish to showcase.

Thanks to the convenience of our mutual locations, should the conversation be more complex than email correspondence allows, I would love to meet in person to discuss specifics and limitations, either at our storefront in Cupertino or at any convenient place for any relevant parties, within Santa Clara County.

Thank you again for your time, patience and understanding in this situation and I hope we can all come to terms that will benefit not only our respective organizations but for the most important parties, the fans."

I receive an email shortly thereafter, explaining that other sword vendors have complained in the past about the amount of OTHER SWORD VENDORS and that the Exhibitor hall will have a cap set, and that we are not the only weapons exhibitor to be rebuked.

At this point I am exhausted, and, because I was on the clock at work at the time, fighting an emotion I had not identified yet. I was simply keeping it suppressed to stay focused for our customers. I thought it was anger, but upon closer inspection of my feelings and opinions, I was actually depressed. Sad and disappointed that my favorite convention would reject a shop that loved it so.
+ + + + + + +
On a similar tangent, I have come to love Fanime, the same way I loved SJSU. The people, the events, the classes(programming) are all awesome, so much fun, you have a BLAST while you're there. However, the bureaucracy, the red tape, the rules and the management, are . . . . .
I don't want to use words like "suck," "bullshit," "Assholes," even though I know people who would readily scream these things. I think the words tedious and beleaguered would be the best. Before you start ragging on the Fanime heads, realize that no one is paying them (so that I know of) and they are doing the best they can on a show that has the capability to rival AX of old. Some of them we're just teens or undergrads in college when they took up their positions and have been dealing wiht the same crap, or new and terrible crap, each and every year to put on the biggest anime con in norcal (from what I know.) I don't personally know anyone higher up than "pass volunteers" so I can't say anything about anyone's character, but I DO KNOW that when an institution is run by "friends/fans" many people get jobs they may not be best suited for because someone either wanted a particular job or was given a title just to keep them occupied.

(NO! I AM NOT SAYING THIS ABOUT THE VENDOR HEAD SPECIFICALLY. This sort of thing could get out of hand, I am not accusing anyone in particular, I am making a broad assumption based on interactions I've had over half a decade of attendance at the Con and this is from interactions with ALL of the departments.)

These people become bored or tired of their job. Drama occurs and relationships are strained. Outside influences put pressure on your infrastructure and you have to deal with them and stay all cheery even though you wish to tell them to take a hike.
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So, now that you have ridden that ride with me, check this out, that makes no sense.
We have been, basically told "we don't care" by two of the biggest Norcal Con, but then, out of the universe, Wizard World calls US and asks us to come be vendors at Anaheim Comic Con. Like, a call a week to see if we're in or out. We went (see THIS post by T1nk for a vicarious recap) and it was a learning experience, I think we will attend next year, good juju.

And of course, we wanted to try Anime Expo. As soon as our manager called them they we're fairly enthusiastic to have us as vendors. We have got continual updates and been given great service so far. We have not yet decided if we will be vending at AX or the fledgling AM2, but in typical overenthusiastic fashion, I suggest our store can do both, at the same time.


So perhaps I should just let the bridges be and go with cons that actually want us? Is it wrong that I am so crushed to be rejected by cons that have nurtured and welcomed me in a professional and personal capacity? What is the proper response for an adult who wishes to be mature and professional? I am thankful to have a manager to make my decisions for me and also to have the great support of my fiance who ALWAYS brings a totally different perspective to these things from how I would want to proceed.

If anyone has ANY information or insight as to what is going on at Fanime or Wondercon, Off or On the record, I would love to hear from you @ " T3h . H4773r @ Gmail . com " (just take out the spaces). If you feel moved to help do something about it, perhaps we could get a petition or initiative together to present to Wondercon or Fanime and let them know what the fans, the attendees, the Perceived REASON these events are held, think and want from their event.

And for those of you who read this ENTIRE STUPID THING, thank you.

If you want to waste another hour of your life, possibly laughing your ass off if you play table top RPG's, here, perhaps these will soften the blow.

The Third Tale

Fable III was a blast, accept for that damned main storyline.

You might have read some of my previous impressions about this game, but I finally powered through it and "finished" it.

First of all, Zero Punctuation has got my back on this one, almost verbatim.

Only a few differences in my case, instead of playing the Real Estate Game and letting it run overnight I maxed out Blacksmithing and made swords till I couldn't see straight. Seriously, if everyone in Albion had three hands, men, women and children would have had two extra swords, yo.
And then, when I'm finally in the black (instead of -500,000 because you say "yes" to all the stuff that ISN'T blatantly "this is Reaver's idea to make you evil" with no third options that make sense) I realize I have to raise MORE money in order to save lives, and the little monkey with an abacus in my brain says "dude, that's like 1,000 a head, or something, I don't wanna do the actual calculation, that would be hard." So I go and make some more cash to start buffing out my coffers. I actually manage to open a door that GIVES me a crap-ton of gold, and try to do a few achievement quests or quests that are unique but don't have an obvious time-line/main storyline ti-ins.

The main storyline is prompting me to do stuff, but I remember 0-Punctuation Guy saying there's a "time limit" till the darkness comes, "oh, there it is 'days left: 151' sweet, I have some time." So I start the main questline and it throws me straight into "Darkness here, you're all kinds of fuct!" And then, Guess what!?!?!? It was in Walter the whole time from that stupid fucking "itsa Trap!" cave, so, now that your Holy Wheaties Avenger of Light (or Babies for Breakfest, Puppies for Desert, Tea with Hitler-Evil) you get to have a showdown with the creature IN YOUR TOWN SQUARE! Not in some epic castle, or wind-swept awesome battlefield, or anything, no, right there, next to where that guard, gave you that repeatable quest and you hit on that guy once to get a gay admirer.

BULLSHIT!

HA! The suck doesn't end there, you get your ending where everyone QQ's over Walter and Jasper drops a bomb on you that even though you managed to be a paragon of Awesomeness (in my case) By giving everyone everything they said they wanted, (accept for reduced casualties, whoops, my bad, whatever) that a bunch of people STILL hate you. I get the impression he doesn't just mean Reaver, Bandits, and that one guy who writes the crappy smack talk mail to everyone.
Um, I'm done with this game at that point, it leaves you open to keep playing and get everything else in the game, but I had started griping at T1nk by this point, hoping the end credits would have some fun stuff on them, ah well, guess not.
And where the hell are the quests that give you a crap ton of money because you are a good person? There was like, one, and it MIGHT have canceled one of those hard decisions, but not nearly on a scale to get a favorable ending, only if you entered the game ready to make money, or (as is sometimes the case) you are a brilliant savant with money in video games.
OR, another possibility that this game made me consider, I'm bad at video games, that's how much this game made me wonder.
And where the hell are my top hat and goggles, steampunk/industrial revolutionary style/oliver twist like video game!?!? Every Tom, Denise, and Harriette and vaguely effeminate Reaver are wearing rockin Makers Faire ensembles, and the best I get is the bandit's outfit!?! Gah!
So, if you're still reading this, if you have a chance to borrow this game or have a game fly account and want a new game, go ahead and play it through. Honestly, I think Lion's Gate should make a full blown MMO or just a super-RPG like a FF or KH, because just RPG-ing in the universe is a blast, the combat is fun but not terrible, the system's were okay, and the worlds are immersive. I would love to maybe even Table top an Albion campaign (say hey, that's a good idea, hrrmm..) So, yeah, I love the work they do and the voice acting was crazy ( mean, come on, a Python & a Doctor? Fuck yeah) but they really needed to work on that main storyline for me. I've heard others praise it like mad, but, not my cup of tea, sorry.

MOM! The Game Wont Let Me Play the Way I Want

Imma talk about some bullshit!

World of Warcraft: wait, don't get ahead of me, let me tell you.

Oh yeah, spoilers, yadda yadda, duh, get over it.

In Hyjal, at least twice, I was seriously annoyed. You're supposed to talk to this satyr who's been chained up for a few centuries and be like "nice Mr. evil man, I know your evil, but the twilight dudes gonna destroy the world, help please?" Im okay with that, sure, redeem people whateva. Then he's like "get me this stuff noob for no good reason." and my bullshit alarm goes off in my head, but fine, I gather this crap for him, and what happens?! exactly what you'd expect, the mats set him free and he cackles, now there's another boss in the new raid, I don't know this for sure, but that's the impression I get.

Then! I encounter this ancient who's on fire, he's all emo and shit cause he's a tree . . . on fire, I understand, but I kill the mobs attacking him an d I'm also a FROST MAGE!!! Fire? I fuck fire for breakfast. Yes, I said that. I'm standing there like, "Dude, Mr. McBranchhands, i got this," but NOOOOO, he's like, "take this seed it is the life giver," or some druidic shit like that, and I'm all bummed now. Thanks.

Fable III:

This is some bullshit in this game. At least in two everyone died in a way you had no control over, and the only complaint I had was the inability to kill reaver even though he totally deserved it. In three, everyone dies right in front of you and you cant stop it because its stupid cutscene bullshit. First there's that stupid choice between the citizens and your girlfriend and I'm all like "where's the option to stab my brother and become king?" but no. Then, I accidentally hit the fat noble trying to restore the bridge to the gypsy camp form two. I was down, I made the donation, accidentally had safe off and hit him, guard stopped me, I paid the fine, and then I tried to interact with tubby to play patty-cake with him, maybe dance, make him fell better, but no. no interaction option with Sir Lardo Funnybritches. THEN, the reaver event pissed me off to no end, but I'm like "my character doesn't know, whatever."

Then! They kill Mr. Mustache. My favorite character in the whole game except for Jasper (who they better not kill cause he's John Cleese and in the Sanctuary) gets fuckin shot in the head right in front of me public execution style, no attempts to rescue, stop or even acknowledge that this is not something my character would suffer easily. LAME!

And of course, shortly thereafter. Walter in the pit of stupid shadow doom where magic is not acknowledged except for the stupid shadow pit thing. I would NEVER have left Walter there, I would have fireman carried his chubby ass all the way across that desert, corpse or not.

So there.

Work to Work

Working while working to get work done on things we'd rather work on. Maybe I should have started with a "yo dawg" meme?

I think what I am trying to articulate, is the interesting setup our society has placed on creation and/or being productive.

As a part time employee, a full time student, a regular actor, a citizen of the internet and a human being on this earth, there are many things I wish to accomplish and many things the institutions I am part of wish me to undertake. The obligations to these institutions often conflict with the things I want to do privately, or even through the institutions in cases of programs I wish to control.

Specifically, I want to write my blog, write stories, plays, put on shows or workshops at school, run convention booths for my work or just play video or table top games (things I find just as important in my life for a multitude of reasons). I also want to make money at work so I can pay for these things. I want to be educated and a man of letters which only completion of this academic institution will give me. I want to become independently stable financially through my brain power and creation alone, getting paid to write or design or storytell.

I know, that is a whole mess of "I want" but lets be honest with each other, the satisfaction of our desires are usually very high on our lists of priorities, and I don't find any of the above immoral or belittling or problematic as a healthy functioning human being.

I guess the point of all this rambling and for H47 gettin' heavy, is that (and perhaps I am nothing more than a product of my generation, culture, and upbringing) I would like to live in a situation where I could put something on hold while I complete another project I had stuck my nose into. But alas, you can only do that with private projects. And, by the time you complete the compulsory projects assigned to you, it is often too late or moot to attempt them in tandem with your organization.
I apologize if this sounds like a frustration rant, it might very well be easily seen as one, but perhaps it's also to share. As young people, or even a universal theme, let us all work for a change, perhaps help others, or should we find it in our power, to pave the way for others, and facilitate the ability to create something beautiful, or even just some spare time, for others, and ourselves.
As for answers, I don't have them, and when I do, I try to live them as oppose to postulate and throw them around. This is just something I felt the need to ruminate upon and think others who read this blog might relate to and understand, perhaps help articulate things they themselves felt but had not yet voiced.
Thank you for your time,
...[+]
H4773r

Tired R4n7

State of The H47 time kids.

My show Treasure Island got canceled due to scheduling conflicts. Don't ever believe that you don't need actors do do a show . . . unless you have a couple months to re-write the show. That was a major bummer but I had been staring at that bullet from day one, I just couldn't "Neo" out of the way. First it wasn't getting approved, so I ended up waiting till AFTER spring semester had ended to do auditions, THEN not being a student/other local theatre/the film pulled about a dozen actors from my potential pool, after that it still took two whole months to get a full approval. Once we were green light he had no idea where some of our designers were as well as losing a few to not being students anymore. And finally, couldn't get enough actors to do the show as written with not enough time to overhaul the script.*

My work only had two employees for a good two weeks so I have been working 9 day weeks. Thankfully we finally hired some new guys but training takes a solid two weeks under good conditions AND our boss lady decides to take a week off. So me and "not new guy anymore" get to play shop keep until the end of the week. We are running low on paper towels, small change and Mt. Dew, things are getting dire and it's only Tuesday.

My lovely fiance has been ASM with a local stage company and she loves her some cast parties. And me, being a paranoid/concerned other half would rather be with her at every cast function in order to; reap the benefits of an inebriated S.O., be designated driver, provide buzz killing services, than be at home resting after full days of work staying out til 3 A.M. Then having to open at 10, with a 45 minute commute, plus I'm slow as molasses when it comes to my morning rituals.

*looks up* Wow, wasn't that a glorious bitchfest? Want more? Well shut your damn dirty mouth, you're getting more.

My mother killed her car, because for some reason the women in my family treat cars like . . . something thats gonna last for a while but as soon as it breaks down they just buy another one thats old and busted but cheap as hell (because its already old and busted) and continue to not maintain it. SO, instead of taking the 95 Explorer that is already where they live (2hours from me and not far enough) the Matriarchs decide I need to give up my van (which I've branded with the Horde symbol, given a name too and put over a thousand dollars into over the last 2ish years). The breakdown goes, my mom gets grandmas newer 07ish subaru impreza (too much power for my mom to be responsible with), my grandma gets my van(which she has killed the battery on in less than two days because she doesn't know what the "radio only" setting is below the off position where the ignition is), and I get the decade and a half old behemoth which is dirty as a Boy Scout camp out on a dusty road, has spiders living in it (they respin the web at night and I have to clean them when I leave for work in the morning. it's a little game we play), with dog snot on the back windows, rotting banana peels on the floorboard and jumbo size granny panty pads in the armrest cubby. Yeah, tastes good in your brain doesn't it?

Anyway. To make up for this I'm throwing up TWO Meme-orables this week. A lot of WoW, but it's cross cultural so should be entertaining even if your not a BlizzDrone

*oh yeah, somebody died too. Nobody ON the show, but I still like to mention that fun fact.

Hard Core Nerds Who Aren't "Nerdcore" prt. 1

(Lords of Nerd . . . and other kinds, of Rapping)

It has come up a couple times when talking about my Blog (Mr. W. Awesome, I'm looking at you) that I do a monthly focus on a Nerdcore artist, you might have even read one or two, and when asking others who I should focus on next, the names MC Lars and MC Chris have been mentioned.

No, I will not do a 3rd 4 t3h Nrrd on either of these artists. Why? Because they are not Nerdcore, they do not self identify as Nerdcore, and although I enjoy both artists and may do a normal update about either of them, they will most likely never be a focus of my monthly spotlight.

Some hullabaloo has circulated around both rappers about their stance on & as Nerdcore rappers, and being a dutiful rumormonger I made sure to root around and hear the words from the horses mouth. Below are MY impressions of what occurred, I might be off, neither of them have EVER talked to me about the subject and I can only hope that if you have any doubts or suspicions about what is addressed here that you go seek out the events yourself. They are still very well documented around the IntarWebs.

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A while back MC Lars put up a post on his blog titled "RIP Nerdcore 1998-2009" and proceeded to expound upon how the "wave" of Nerdcore hit the shore and began to recede. Also saying how many fledgling "Nerdcore artists(I use the terms loosely)" have been sending him horrible, cheap, copy cat samples. Understandably this was disheartening and did not impress him as legit musicianship in the Nerdcore world. He then listed a few rappers (Nerdcore and otherwise) who he thought make great artists as well as his favorite hip hop influences. All throughout asking starting musicians to strive to pioneer and move the music forward.

A backlash swept through the nerd rap community and well, shit exploded, more like it. Eventually there was a 6 page thread on MC Frontalot's BBS (some very mature and thought out arguments there) and a few threads on Rhyme Torrents Forums as well. Some not as well articulated, but definitely vocal. Hipster Please also put up a take on what Lars was talking about, and after a few days Lars chimed back in to clarify his intent.

Apparently the title was a joke off of another hip hop album, that combined with the less than flattering content that sounded like it was aimed at the entire Nerdcore Community, the damage had been done. The apology helped, but less people on the Nets care about "sorry" than thinly veiled geek bashing.

While I'm on the subject, Mr. Horris has been hosting a discussions on his site as to whether or not Nerdcore is racist. This was in reaction to an off the cuff comment he made in Metro (yes, NorCal-south bay readers, OUR Metro) and he wanted to clarify his statement. A 5 page thread ensued with some cheap shots from both sides of the argument, I think both sides took the jabs in stride, and finally, The Great MC Front, came to the rescue, again, and helped Lars go over some key points on the issue and better clarify his opinions.

MY SUMMARY: I agree completely with Lars in that it is ignorant, and even potentially racist for the CONSUMER, the LISTENER, (and not the Nerdcore artists themselves because every artist I've ever looked into has at least a working knowledge if not a fanaticism for traditional hip hop) to dismiss roots of an art based on it's current popular incarnation. I assume, why he said that Nerdcore was, was a goof on his part.
I agree that you need to continue to move forward, and continue to develop as an artist, regardless of your genre.
I DISAGREE with the idea that Nerdcore compares itself to traditional(or otherwise) Hip Hop hardships. NEVER!, NNNEEEVVAAARR!! have I heard a song from a Nerdcore artist that even came close to this. but . . . . oh yes, I have a but . . . I like to think it is a big, budonkadonk butt, yeah . . sorry. (I'm paraphraseing here, shoot me, but my readership is so small I don't really care, if I blow up because -I'M RIDING THE COATTAILS OF NERDCORE AND MC LARS- well then, sweet, i can start paying some bills and write 2 blogs, do an interview with metro and have 3 5-page threads to explain myself, eh? (sorry, its late and I'm getting snarky) " comparing getting a wedgie to having the south Bronx ruined by an entire train system." anyone who has taken a basic critical thinking class can see this is a fallacy in gross generalization. To be honest, I love them and have used them. But to use it as part of your explanation on CLARIFYING the intent of your statements, not a great idea. So, Let me expound, okay, nerd life is no where comparable to the African American experience. No argument from me, that isn't the point.
*takes a second to collect thoughts*
Let me try again. Have Nerds/geeks/dorks been persecuted on the scale African Americans have? NO, not at all, I'm not drawing that parallel. However, fuck you (that's a "fuck you" in general, not to anyone specific) if you don't believe we don't have hardships. Where the hell did all those nerd empowerment films come from. Where have all the stereotypes and jokes originated, if not from actual events. Social disorders, estrangement, depression, suicide!? These are not legitimate issues for one to address in their chosen art form because someone who has come before you had it worse? Well damn, than only the ancient Greeks have license to produce art as I'm not sure how much worse you can get than slavery, incest, rape, wars and the disenfranchisement of peoples. Does this not fit the argument?
Because the plight of the African-American is on such a grand scale, the plight of nerds will always pale in comparison. This should not belittle the experience of the minority, it is just as real and just as influential. To use an analogy, its like saying a rape victim shouldn't be so upset because she's not a Jew that suffered through the holocaust.

To be fair, I don't think Lars had that in mind at all. But that would be me putting words into Mr. Horris's mouth, and I'm sorry. It sounds like he is a real cool guy, always kind, but he's not naive by any means either. I think the popular consensus at this point is that he needs to think before he speaks, but then, what fun would that be?

Dangling From the Wagon

Well, devoted readers (all 3 of you), I managed to keep a steady stream of deliciousness up for about 3 months before I flagged. This is a blog about the status of the blog.

Lament or rejoice (however you feel) this is not defeat, only an update, the blog will march on. I am theatre person and the "show" must go on! (Shakespeare In Love, "It will work! How? I don't know. It's a mystery." On a total shameless tangent, in my Science, Religion, Magic, class, one theorist proposes that humans first result to science, then religion, than lastly, magic. Theatre is a great example of this. How do we put up a show? First, we set up and follow the instructions by the book. Something goes wrong? We pray and hope it will get fixed. Still no? Finally, we resort to superstition and strange rituals to explain and resolve. *looks around* Say hey, look where we ended up. Okay, back to the "not being able to write" portion of this essay . . .)

I currently have about 3 to 5 blogs sitting in the edit file, all of them succulent and juicy, ready to be devoured by you (all 3 of you) the hungering reader.
Subjects include the story of my Proposal to T1nk, an in-character narrative, an observation on RP geek superstitions, as well as reviews on "Melody of Oblivion" & "9." (heh, looky that. Five ideas. Cool.)

Anyway, nerdlings, thank you for hangin' in here with me, and if you havnt already availed yourself of some of the back log posts, I highly reccomend that you partake of them . . . all except for T3h R4n7s. stay away from those. Bad tings mon, bad tings.

-H47

Old R4n7 (4-17-08)

R4n7 4-17-08

as for me, lord, where to start. well, horny beyond belief, but thats nothing new, damn hormones . . . im only in 2 classes this semester and im still finding it hard to go to them regularly. screen writing is interesting, im working on a semi-autobiographical script chronicling my break up with my ex as well as the rekindling of my love for thaetre, very deep, meaningful and dramatic . . . I HATE IT! i lived it, i dont want to relive it again, thats why i play warcraft and D&D and play dress up no less than 3 times a year.

Speaking of Warcraft, good lord am i addicted. and now, 2 of my friends who dont even play WoW are hooked on the card game, its like Magic The Gathering, only for WoW and they want to play constantly. poor guy, one of em, (The Blave), has played all the original Real Time strategy versions of Warcraft, so he knows all this back story, but he's never played WoW so hes always like "but hat makes no sense in the old games, this and this was this way" so Tink(theatreg33k) and I have to explain to him "NO! no making sense anymore, WoW has ruined any semblance of plot the game had, get over it!"
But yeah, WAY too much time spent playing that, ive got my 70 mage doing dailies constantly, and a 65 hunter im finally getting up to 70, and a 42 war i need to get up to outland so that guild can get raiding.

THE OTHER class is advanced acting, and well, it should be "excersices and coaching for acting" cause all we do is read scripts, listen to the proffesor, do scenes and play acting games.

I am sound designing for not only a high school show (the odd couple, female version), but for a "real" theatre company, Arclight Theatre and i'll be doing the sound for Twelfth Night, so that should be fun.

ALSO, i recently got a job at Armor-geddon, and i should start monday, that's gonna be interesting. It's gonna be like working at a corporate comic shop, the guy who hired me is really gun-ho about making the store into something great and caring about the store and the product, as well as making sales, in order to keep the store afloat. so more of a commitment then i was looking for in a store, but thats okay, it should be good for me, and i like that in a management staff.

so thats whats up with me.

Old R4n7 (the first)

As afore mentioned i owe housing a ton and as such there is a hold on my account and because theres a hold i cant add classes, and if i cant add classes i cant get aid AND>>>.... i cant pay the debt until aid comes in.. isnt beaurocracy wonderfull.
p.s. I dont sp43k in l337 t00 much, i simply utiliz3 it.
so that should sum it up...
More R4nt later.... (posted before april sometime.) (before 08 even eddit:09)

An old R4n7 (4/16/09)

R4n7 4-16-09

Damn, I want a childhood. maybe just for a year would be nice. Have someone else pay the bills and not feel guilty about it. Maybe have an allowance, or even just keep my paychecks for myself. Then I could buy all these goodies I want so I could be sub-culturally awesome, such as nerdcore albums, ACTUALLY support music I want to support instead of pirating from musicians I want to give money to, as well as buying equipment and clothes, for everyday as well as construction on various costumes, and . . ah yes, a lightsabre.. It would give me time to work on several projects I've neglected for almost a decade now, not to mention the ones more recently to find a home in my skull. Do some shows without having to worry about when I'm getting up for class or whether or not I will be able to do homework during rehearsal.
I don't often sit back and realize, that I am a full time student with two part time jobs trying to live on my own. and yet, I still live with SOMEONES parents, and am barely able to keep my bills in check. High school needs to teach how to survive, or something. My fiance is as smart as any person i know, but shes had a seven year head start on me and shes in even deeper than I am. Quite frankly, this is bullshit and i want a cheat code, or a reset button, or something.
Alas. this real world stuff is crap, but its something we all share in common. some-odd billion people do it everyday, why does it feel so difficult to me?
It's also a challenge to try and pull yourself half way through your social circle. I never considered it when i was in high school even, but ever since college, it hit me that I was lower-middle class at best, eating weenie soup and thinking it a grand event any time we took recycling in because that meant MickeyD's for lunch. Now I'm very good friends with people who have no idea what it's like to live with your grandma, your aunt, your mother all in a two bedroom apartment on the shady side of town, with your grandma sleeping in the living room on the coach even though she's the one paying the rent, having her pain pills wear off at 530 AM so she takes two more, gets up and goes to work, where she deals with other KIDS problems, inner city misfits worse off than me, and attempts to put them on career paths. Seeing your mothers face drop into blanch shock as you blab "what about grandma? she lives with us?" when the social worker asks her if anyone lives with the two of you because answering "no" would mean more food stamps to feed you. Than not understanding why there wont be a treat of The Golden Arches or even the hot dog cart out front, because you told the lady something wrong. taught me children were to be seen and not heard, not that i had screwed myself and my mother for the next year. ah well, when you're young, you learn differently.
Oh damn, i rambled. anyway, i guess that's why its a rant, well. Geoshities is going down soon, so this will most likely go up on . . i dunno, *shudder* maybe myspace, hopefully a REAL site, ty to epyon avenger.
-H4773r done . . . for now