And they said it couldn’t be done

Surely no single event did more to shine a spotlight on the burgeoning nerdcore scene than the original Rhyme Torrents project. By the same token, no single community in the hallows of all of geeky music produced more drama. Such is the nature of the beast.

And with the dissolution of RhymeTorrents.com, the future of those surviving members of that oft-tumultuous family unit seemed a great question mark. Would RT rise from the ashes with renewed vigor or would it simply fade into the internet ether? Something few of us counted on was a third solution: relocation.

Helmed by a new consortium of tech-savvy rap dorks and nestled snuggly at the similar (but just different enough to make a difference) RhymeTorrents.org, a new RT is poised to continue the longhead tradition of nerdcore compilation albums. And probably a little drama too, but, again, it comes with the territory.

The first musical offering from this aspect of the community comes in the form of Rhyme Torrents Volume 7, a two-disk collection that became available last weekend. Mastered by EMPulse Record’s The HT, RT7 boasts slicker production, higher bitrates, and contributions from Magitek, Antisoc, ZeaLouS1, Random, id obelus, The Ranger, and many more. But most importantly, the comp is still free!

Take a moment to download this newest iteration of the nerdy mixtape. I assure you’ll find something to your liking.

The pre-show

As I make my final preparations to leave for Nerdapalooza, I keep discovering these pleasant little surprises.

First, Josh and I unexpectedly scored the family van to make the trip down in, which is a definite upgrade from our previous ride. Then funky49 made a $4.49 donation to my travel fund (bringing the grand total of the contributions up to a whopping $4.49). And now I see that MC Frontalot and Wordburglar will be doing an in-store at A Comic Shop Thursday night! A free in-store! With free pizza and beer!

No one pinch me; this dream is just too good.

File under time-wasters

It's my first day back at work since last Wednesday and I miss my kids. I miss my house. I miss my bathrobe and 1Up slippers.

How have I been coping with 8+ hours in my tiny, windowless office? By screwing around.

A link to this Scion Crest Generator came across the GeekDad group last week, and I'd been meaning to play with it. I was sort of an easy sell, as I'm a Scion owner, but some of y'all might dig it too.

This was the first crest I came up with. I'm thinking of using it as the wallpaper for a MoonShell skin I'm working on for my DS.

You Brought us Geeks Together

In the wake of the yesterday’s passing of tabletop legend Gary Gygax, geeks everywhere have memorialized him in their own indubitable fashions. Though the various epitaphs scrawled across blogs and Internet message boards may seem sardonic and mocking to outsiders, those of us in the know realize that these references to Constitution modifiers and saving throws are, more often than not, the result of genuine, heartfelt sentiment regarding the passing of a man who helped to craft those undeniably dorky concepts.

And while the Web’s foremost comics mark Gygax’s passing with images and its most studious bloggers do so with words, nerdy musicians pay tribute in song. The first of these, to my knowledge, comes from self-described “Sock Puppet Rock Band and Multimedia Extravaganza-thon-a-rama” Uncle Monsterface.

Frontman Marty Allen says, regarding the track,

we realize all too well the unfortunate truth is that too often, folks wait until someone has kicked the proverbial bucketcan before they say all the nice things they meant to say about them. that isn't reason enough not to, let it just serve as a collective reminder to us all that we should tell people that we like them and that we like what they do. before they [d]ie. people have tried to convince me otherwise, and i refuse to believe it. but if you miss the boat, make them a song.

And with that, I submit for your approval “(thank you) Gary Gygax,” freely downloadable from UncleMonsterface.com.

Irreverent? Yes. Strange? Absolutely! But also sincere and ridiculously nerdy. Because Gary deserves no less.