I wish my brother George was here.

Hey, folks.

I’ve got a new edition of the Radio Free Hipster podcast that I’m just putting some final touches on right now. It should be up this afternoon, but first I wanted to commiserate the passing of comic luminary George Carlin.

As my friend Matt is often quick to point out, our contemporary flavor of nerd culture – our modern nerd revolution, if you will - is intrinsically linked to the classic counterculture of the 60’s and 70’s. Carlin’s unique brand of clever, anti-establishment humor was very much a part of that movement. It was unafraid to challenge norms. It was far more concerned with being smart and accurate, with being thought-provoking, than with being accepted.

And that’s nerdcore.

More Nerd News in Brief

The problem with pulling double duty between Hipster, please! and Geekdad is that, many times, the things I do for one don’t necessarily translate well to the other. Sure, there’s a commonality, but I don’t expect that GD readers would respond to my foul mouth and healthy disrespect for copyright laws quite as warmly as you do.

Still, there are some exceptions. I actually have a couple of things coming down the Geekdad pipe in the near future that I think you folks will really dig. I’ll not divulge too much so as to keep a minimal level of mystique, but as plans solidify I’ll be happy to drop some knowledge.

• Ghosts I (available intravenously): I don’t like Nine Inch Nails – a 40-year-old man trying to be angsty is just a little bit sad – but I do like Antisocial. As such, I’d like to call you attention to his new project. Soc is working on “a quick little project called Seven Inch Spikes: Apparitions. Basically the concept is derivative (remix, rap, rework, cover, inspired by, parody, etc) works of the new Nine Inch Nails album.” Parties interested in participating should give Soc a holler and/or peep RT for further details.
• G4 - Now with 50% less suck!: YTCracker is seeking to help G4 reclaim its former glory(?) via the power of music. He has recently licensed his track “DugDig” for a year as the BGM for a commercial for X-Play. Yes, Warwick Davis was Willow and an Ewok and Leonard Nimoy was Galvatron and Spock. But Adam Sessler? He’s just kind of a tool.
• A place to call home: Nerdapalooza has a new and improved online presence. The URL is humorous and borderline inappropriate so I really can’t help but love it. The site was also designed by Game Metal mastermind Girlz Melon for added rock-ass geek cred!
• Japanese stunt man?!: T.Y.T. has a new video available for your perusal, and this one’s not on YouTube. You can, however, peep “Saturday Night SYN” elsewhere. And trust me, you’ll want to watch what T.Y.T. describes as “a totally retarded hyphy in face skull crushing video!”
• Here I am…: Thanks to my brother Matt for hipping me to a special new track by Wrockers The Owl Post. This one’s a collab with Adam from The Mudbloods. It’s called “Scarhead Theme,” and it’s available at the Post’s MySpace.
• Wrock you like a hurricane: In other Wrock news (also courtesy of Matt), Lena (of The Butterbeer Experience) and Lauren (of The Moaning Myrtles) are planning a joint tour. The duo is also working on an EP together, and are currently looking for artistic assistance for cover art design. There’s a tentative Baltimore date on said tour, which hopefully means Matt and Church can do a post-gig write-up. /stern look
• Further developments: Earlier this week, it was widely reported in Wizard Rock circles that The Parselmouths were parting ways due to the approaching nuptials of member Brittany. The band’s forthcoming gig in Kansas was expected to be their last, with remaining Parselmouth Kristina soldiering on with a new huckleberry. A recent follow-up, however, has clarified the previous information; it now looks like Brittany is just taking the summer off to get married, and fans can expect more of the classic Brittany/Kristina lineup in the future.
• Tag-team: On the VGM front, my pal Anthony has officially announced the next GM4A compilation Here Comes a New Challenger. This one features collaborations between nerdcore vocalists and chiptune/VGM musicians. He even included a preview track to tide us over until its release.
• Across the pond: Speaking of game music, congrats go out to the fine folks at the Gamewave Podcast. Much like my own Radio Free Hipster, the Gamewave guys have just celebrated the posting of their 40th podcast. (No small feat, I assure you!) If you haven’t yet, I’d highly suggest giving the ‘cast a listen. Joe and Mike are not only VGM aficionados, they’re also game musicians themselves, and their show is not to be missed.
• 1D4 moments of silence: I’m gonna break with tradition and end NNIB without a video today. Instead, here’s a little image that Church found that sort of managed to stick in my brain. We all know that Gary Gygax shuffled off this mortal coil earlier this week, but did you realize he did so - fittingly enough - on GM's Day? Moreover, did you know that his passing is the only thing that could make a lolcat utterly despondent? Didn’t think so.

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.

On the passing of Gary Gygax

For those of you who haven’t caught wind of the recent news, Ernest Gary Gygax – co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons and a pioneer of tabletop roleplaying – has passed.

Even now, Gary is being memorialized by our geeky peers in a manner befitting a gentleman of his standing. I’m sure there’s little I can say that hasn’t already been covered by those more astute and well-spoken than I, but I don’t reckon I’ll let that stop me. I can't imagine many of us who are active participants in the geekier side of popular culture would be doing what we do if not for Gary, particularly those of us who fancy ourselves writers.

The worlds he helped to forge provided many of us a canvas upon which to paint idealized versions of our flawed and corruptible selves. Around that table we weren’t lonely and awkward kids; we were paladins, warriors, and rogues. We found ourselves transformed from a motley crew of neighborhood chums to a party of daring adventurers.

His game gave us a voice. It gave us a realm of wonder and fantasy to explore with our friends. Goblins to slay and treasure to discover. It rewarded our creativity and helped to foster our ingenuity. Moreover, it provided us a mechanism through which to tell our own stories.

In truth, it wasn’t until I discovered D&D (and, yes, a number of other similar games) that I ever felt I had tales worth telling, that I ever felt that I was a part of that grand tradition of southern storytellers. My now infamous and much mocked tattoo isn’t just about embracing my dorky nature, it’s about acknowledging the reason that I began to write. And now it’s about memorializing yet another in a long succession of fallen heroes.

Gygax was just a man, as small and flawed as any of us, but he helped a generation embrace storytelling and nerdy camaraderie as an active pastime. He helped an innumerable number of misfit kids find brotherhood with paper and dice. He will be missed, but his legacy lives on.

For we are that legacy.

What About Your Friends?: A Pontification on Nerds and Community

Yesterday, my son – affectionately referred to here-in as Lil’ X. – was sick again… or still… depending upon which pediatrician you ask. Anywho, as a result I stayed home from work to tend to him.

I’m a dad. It’s what I do.

Due to the fact that he was so ill, he didn’t offer a lot in the way of entertainment. (Normally he’s more fun than the proverbial barrel of monkeys, but yesterday, in his weakened state, not so much.)

So, while I had resigned myself to whiling those lost hours away doing *shudder* the housework to which I have thusly been so negligent, fate intervened to the contrary.

Hipster, please! is a blog about nerd music and culture, and, as was so succinctly stressed in Wil Wheaton’s PAX keynote, nerd culture is a far more social affair than outsiders would care to admit. Case in point: yesterday, in the space between tapping yet another bottle of Pedialyte and the all-to-frequent diaper changes, I was comforted, amused, and distracted by a cavalcade of ever-supportive nerdy confidants.

First, I discovered that, though my position as la petite domestique had rendered attendance to either event impossible, I was well represented last week at both Nerdapalooza SE in Gainesville and at the High Dive in Seattle.

In Florida, my pal Steve (otherwise known as funky49) included a little bit of his track “Hurricane Love” in a medley he performed during his set at NSE, the breakdown of which contains a little voiceover by yours truly. Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, my boys the Goondocks gave Hipster, please! a shout-out before launching into their excellent contribution to the Nerdcore Undercover compilation “Posse Needs Upgrades.”

As cheesy as it sounds, those are the kinds of things that remind me why I spend time that I rightfully should be working cranking out podcasts and blog posts; though I couldn’t make it to either coast to enjoy the festivities, I know I was welcome and maybe even missed.

I also received succor from several non-musical nerds as well. Big chunks of my afternoon (read: Li’l X’s nap) were spent helping Matt give Church a little good-natured hell (of the “we knew you when” variety) concerning the fact that his “Nixon Peabody” YouTube vid has gotten mad press. MAD PRESS!!!

Hell, I even played a little Animal Crossing with a really nice cat from CAG who helped me clean up the thousands of weeds that had grown since my last sojourn to my humble town.

I guess what I’m saying is, much like Mr. Wheaton, where most folks see nerds as awkward, borderline dangerous loners, I see them as a community. My community.

That’s not saying we’re not awkward, and, yeah, some of us are dangerous, but I’d hazard a guess that the ratio is no higher with us than any or social group. But I digress.

I write all of this to frame a single event, and event that is important within the sphere of nerdy music and also pertinent within the realm of our community.

Yesterday afternoon, Karl “Ultraklystron” Olson announced on his site that he will be taking a break from his musical endeavors.

I think Matt summed up my initial sorrowful reaction succinctly with the title of his post: “Crap.”

Karl has been recording making music, in one form or another, since he was only 10. While I can’t attest to the quality of his early work, I can tell you that his recent electronic output – as well as his nerdcore hip-hop – has been some of my favorite. Ultraklystron billed himself as music for the otaku, but I always found his style appealing despite the fact that I know about as much about anime as I do bull riding.

Moreover, I was always charmed by his content. I’ve stated this before (both here at HP and via private channels), but I must reiterate that I’ve always found Ultraklystron’s ability to render a song – any song – as less a sequence of rhymes and more a uniquely personal experience to be among his most fascinating qualities. Karl always manages to draw me into a song, whether I comprehend the underlying cultural references or not, and that’s no small feat.

For all my talk of broadening nerd music’s horizons, I tend to compartmentalize. I often speak of the first generation of nerdcore by invoking the Big 3 – mc chris, MC Frontalot, and YTCracker. This by no means diminishes the work of groundbreaking artists like Jesse Dangerously, MC Lars, or, my personal favorite, Optimus Rhyme, but the former three are often the first names that come to mind when I discuss the first wave of nerdcore with fans and detractors alike.

Consequently, I’ve always seen second gen nerdcore in terms of its own Big 3 – Beefy, MC Router, and Ultraklystron. Again, there are many other influential and infinitely important artists – perhaps even artists that I, personally, enjoy more – but those three are my own personal shorthand.

Hearing that Karl has chosen to step away from his prescribe post saddens me a bit, but at the same time I know enough about the guy to recognize that he takes his music seriously, and wouldn’t take such a step lightly.

Karl has promised to help Rai and Nursehella with their current projects, and has even mentioned that his forthcoming album Opensource Lyricist may indeed see the light of day. And while we should and most certainly will lament the loss of his voice aside from these gleaming exceptions, I feel that it is important for us as a community to respect his decision and to wish him well in all his endeavors, musical and otherwise.

It takes an enlightened man to truly comprehend his own situation. It takes a brave man to admit that his current standing is not quite where it should be. It takes a strong man to dedicate his energies to rectifying his shortcomings.

Karl Olson is each of these, and it is these traits that have always drawn me to his music.

So while we as a community, as a family, mourn what we can at least hope is a temporary absence of Ultraklystron from our ranks, let us also celebrate the body of music that he has graced us with.

Karl was one of 2nd gen’s first true stars, and while he may no longer be rocking the mic, he’s still a friend to nerds everywhere.

Best of luck along your journey, Karl, wherever the path might lead, and know that when you finally come back around we'll be waiting. With open arms and ears.