Round Two

Tomorrow marks the day I move back into room 437 E and start my second year in Houghton. I am definitely ready. I've got another friend up here and a special someone back home to miss. Let's start this party. It should be interesting to meet any new members of Elysium. It should also be interesting if my special someone comes and visits me. Let's go Huskies!

Feelings

Hello world, Now first off, I honestly thought I'd be blogging more. My life in Elysium has been mostly uneventful. A good time here, drama there, a terrible time in class in between: all par for the course for college.

Then feelings happened.

The worst thing about these feelings is that they're not for anyone here. No, these feelings are for someone back home. These feelings are for my best friend, who is wonderfully enough my ex as well. He's in a "trial relationship" with a girl he's wanted forever, but he seems doubtful that she'll continue to return his feelings. There's also the possibility that she'll go to Colorado for college, something she wants but he wouldn't be able to handle. All of this would be okay to me, standing by as a loyal best friend to help handle, but she had to come to me for advice about my closest friend - my ex. I am dazed and confused by the situation I've been thrown into. I have to be honest and nice even though my brain wants to tell her off. Why does this happen to me? My Tech friends (lovingly referred to as Brick Squad) are all in happy (or mostly so) relationships with none of this kind of drama afoot. Feelings are awful and confusing.

Nerdiness

Alright, so I'm doing this for a friend, but this will be a good introduction to a few nerdy things, namely the nerdcore genre and PAX.

First up, nerdcore.
The name nerdcore was coined by MC Frontalot in 2000. He's also been called "the Godfather of Nerdcore (Hip Hop).

Note: Some of the videos are probably dumb in terms of visuals, so don't pay too much attention to some. Others may be actual music videos. Also, some of these songs are just gonna be personal favorites, so I have no idea what to say about them. Have fun!

MC Frontalot -
Goth Girls - This happens to be the first song of Frontalot's that I listened to. I saw it on the Rock Band Network, oddly enough, and I was curious. It led me to nerdcore as a whole.
Nerdcore Rising ft. Jesse Dangerously and MC Hawking - Frontalot describes this song as a nerdcore anthem. It also showcases a few other nerdcore rappers.
Braggadocio ("live") - Braggadocio shows Frontalot's lyricism and a pretty good flow, and it shows his entertaining stage presence.
Stoop Sale (Official Video) - Good song and one of the only songs with an official video.
All of his albums are great, so get them.

MC Lars -
Download This Song ft. Jeret Reddick - The first MC Lars I ever heard. I also think it's probably his best from The Graduate. It also features the singer from another great band, Bowling for Soup (which is a whole other lesson). I actually wasn't aware this had an official music video, but Lars is so nerdy and it's awesome.
True Player For Real - TPFR tells of Lars life, apparently, and it's how I learned what "type" of nerd he is (English major).
OG Original Gamer ft. MC Frontalot and Jonathan Coulton - This is an amazing collaboration between MCs Lars and Frontalot and an amazing nerd musician Jonathan Coulton. Jonathan Coulton isn't in the video, but it's still fantastic.
Hey There Ophelia - Another favorite and definitely my favorite of his English themed songs ("Hey There Ophelia" (Hamlet), "Ahab" (Moby Dick), "Mr. Raven" (The Raven))
If you have time, check out the rest of the This Gigantic Robot Kills album.

Schäffer the Darklord (STD) - (Note: Schäffer is often filthy in the languages he uses in his songs, so consider this a fair warning)
The Rappist - This one pretty much details his style. He seems pretty rad in this official video, if I say so myself.
Nerd Lust (live) - A bit less "sensual" and more rock then the album version, in this song, Schaffer describes his favorite type of girl (nerds).
Other good STD songs that I'm too lazy to look for good versions of are "Supervillain," "F*ck This Song," "Revenge of the Attack of the Clonef*cker," "The Tin Man," and "The Way You Talk."

Zealous1 -
Next Gen 2.0 ft. Dr. Awkward - These guys are a few "young guys" of the genre, as described by MC Frontalot (check out "I'll Form The Head" MC Frontalot ft. Zealous1 & Dr. Awkward too)
The album Rise by Zealous1 is available for download for free (legitimately) here.

That'll be a good taste of nerdcore, but for kicks, let's include other nerdy musicians.

Jonathan Coulton (JoCo) -
Let's get this out of the way first - I love JoCo and his music. He's pretty much a nerd icon, but more on that later. He's known partially for writing the credit songs for the Portal games - "Still Alive" and "Want You Gone." A lot of the music I'm going to mention (his hits) can be found on JoCo Looks Back ("JoCo.") Otherwise, they'll be on Artificial Heart. ("AF")
Code Monkey (JoCo) - (Ignore the fact that this is a Rock Band video. Other than the Rock Band noises, it's the best quality of the original recording I found in my admittedly short search.) This is pretty standard JoCo sound. It was also used as the theme song for the short lived show Code Monkeys.
IKEA (JoCo) - On our way to the Canton IKEA (#dtown2012), I couldn't stop singing this song. I really like it, personally. It mentions Billy the Bookcase, which (who?) I actually saw, so that was cool.
Still Alive (from Portal, game version, alternate version on Artificial Heart) and Want You Gone (from Portal 2, album version, Elegant Too Remix, Artificial Heart) - These are my favorite versions of the songs JoCo wrote for the end credits of the Portal games.

Minibosses -
Mega Man 2 - Yeah, so the Minibosses are amazing. They do rock instrumentals of video game music. They rock. Hard.

Paul and Storm -
The Captain's Wife's Lament - Paul and Storm went on tour opening for Jonathan Coulton, as they like to do. This is one of my favorites by them, and it's live! (also on the album Do You Like Star Wars?)

I Fight Dragons -
I love I Fight Dragons. They're the best chiptune rock act (with singer) I've ever heard, and they're amazing live as well, although I've only seen videos of them live.
I was going to link to a few songs, but I could do this instead and link to their YouTube channel, which they personally run and update with new material. I especially recommend "Save World, Get Girl," "The Geeks Will Inherit the Earth," "cRaZie$," "Working," "Kaboom!," "Just Decide (live)," "Money (live)," "Packy Plays Tetris," "Heads Up, Hearts Down (live)," "Rick and Mario," and "I Fight Ganon."

The Protomen -
I don't know a lot about the Protomen other than they toured with I Fight Dragons and their albums are rock operas based on Mega Man. The one song I really know by them is called Light Up The Night.

Anamanaguchi -
These guys are an instrumental chiptune rock act. These guys are the best chiptune rock instrumental act I've ever heard. They do their own stuff and some video game soundtracks, such as the one for Scott Pilgrim the Game! Check out that soundtrack! For reference, have Airbrushed.

Moving on to the Penny Arcade Expo!

The Penny Arcade Expo, or PAX, is a "celebration of gaming culture." Held every year in Seattle, PAX was created by the creators of the Penny Arcade webcomic, Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins. The Seattle event is now known as PAX Prime, because there is a PAX East held in Boston as well. This year's PAX Prime is going to be held Labor Day weekend, and sold out in the first six hours the passes were available. PAX East was April 4-6. Check out the list of panels!

PAX also has amazing musical events. PAX has hosted MC Frontalot, Jonathan Coulton, Paul and Storm, The Protomen, Minibosses, and more.
Penny Arcade Song (alt version) - MC Frontalot
Code Monkey (live) - JoCo
Super Mario Bros 2 - Minibosses

Apology...

I'd like to apologize for my harsh words about karma... My outburst, though I feel it's correct, didn't need to go onto the internet.

Friends

I'll start off by saying that I love my friends. Even those that don't know what's going on with my more intimate issues help me to forget. But I'd like to give a special shout-out to my bestie, who's gotten me through some hard times. You know who you are.

Karma?

Fuck karma. I've seen negative karma at work in my best friend's life.I understand how it can help someone understand how badly they screwed up, or how badly they've hurt someone. I can understand that. But where's this positive karma that's supposed to be its partner? I've had some shit happen in my life. I won't broadcast the specifics to the internet. That's not why I'm here. The point is that I've had a fucking hard life overall. Sure, I have some awesome friends. Some REALLY awesome friends. I even thought I had a good relationship going for a while, but then that got ripped away from me. And now, because I'm a good Samaritan, I try to take on the problems of everyone around me, and it's become too much... Bring good karma. Give it to my friend, at least, if you don't see fit to give it to me...

College Admissions Paper

Well, I finished that paper I was supposed to be writing the last time I was posting. It was a common paper for Juniors in our district, and it happens to be in the model of a college admissions paper. It seems like it's just - what's the phrasing I'm looking for? - schmoozing, talking big about yourself. All in all, it kinda seems, I dunno, sleezy, for lack of a better word. I dunno... We'll see if I even wrote it correctly.

School

Well, first of all, I'm supposed to be writing a paper right now, but I'll get to that in a bit. I think it's kind of hilarious that I can even access a blogspot.com domain, let alone edit and post to them, at school. So maybe I'll blog from school once in a while when I'm bored and have access to a computer. I think I'll try to write my paper now, so I don't pull another late night...

Edit: Screw that... To Memebase!

Edit 2: Some people have no idea how to surf the internet inconspicuously...

I'm Back

Heyo, world, I'm back and blogging. I'll be here talking about random stuff again, but keep in mind that my opinions have changed since I've started. You should also check out my new poetry collective, Whale Riders Poetry at whaleriderspoetry.blogspot.com.

New BFS Music Video!

They made a video for "No Hablo Inglés"!

Dokapon Kingdom

Ok, Dokapon Kingdom is, basically put, a Mario Party rip-off for either Wii or ps2. Nonetheless, it's worth the play. It's different from Mario Party in that it doesn't involve mini games and it takes a heckuva lot longer. You and up to three friends or CPU's play as heroes vying to be the richest player at the end of the game to win the princess's hand in marriage. The game takes place in the fictional Dokapon Kingdom. You must go around the Kingdom freeing cities from the monsters that have taken them over. Every chapter has some "big monsters" you must defeat before the chapter event opens up. Complete the event to progress. Whoever does the event first gets a hefty award. Players' wealth is determined by the worth of their towns and their cash on hand. I recommend Dokapon Kingdom as a rental.

Jeret's One-Sided Interview

Hey, everyone. My latest project involves promoting BFS and their newest album (currently unreleased) Sorry for Partyin'. Check out this interview with Jeret Reddick.

BFS Army

Hey, if anyone's listening, I'm now a member of the Bowling for Soup Army Fancorps. I'm gonna be trying to promote them as much as possible. You should join too if you like BFS.

http://bowlingforsoup.fancorps.com

Bo Burnham

Any of you avid YouTubers/music fans might know Bo Burnham. He is a singer, and, through YouTube, became somewhat famous. He has an EP and a full length album available on iTunes. He's only about 18 and his music is quite funny. He always uses either an acoustic guitar or his keyboard as an accompaniment. I recommend this artist to anyone who likes, say, Weird Al. He's kinda like Al, but more vulgar.

Want Free YouTube Vids?

This is straying a little from my usual reviewing process, but here we go. I recently went exploring on the vast cesspool of videos that is YouTube, looking for various hacks, tips, and tricks for the computer. I came across a video telling me how to download videos from YouTube. On YouTube. I find this hilarious. But, it works. Here are the links:

http://www.download3000.com/download_19063.html

http://www.nchsoftware.com/prism/index.html

The first one is the downloader itself, the second is a video converter. The downloader downloads it as an FLV file, so you need the converter. Happy downloading! I hope I don't get shut down for this...

Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction

Hey, anybody who cares anymore... Anyway, I played Mercs. and it was pretty good. It felt like a GTA rip-off, though. They did have some different things, such as airlifts. You could call an airlift for anything from weapons to vehicles to air strikes. Other than that, though, it's a little samey to GTA. Still, it's worth the play.

Spanking Shakespeare, by Jake Wizner

Spanking Shakespeare is a great book for teens. It's about a high-school senior, Shakespeare Shapiro, whose ultimate goal by the end of the year is to get laid. The problem is, he's never even had a girlfriend, and is widely ignored. He does have a good-looking friend named Celeste Keller, but she's taken... But her boyfriend is away at college. There's also the mysterious Charlotte White... Shakespeare is actually a great writer, despite his hatred of his name. He makes a list of possible virginity-takers, and starts on "the hunt." Will Shakespeare get laid, or will he go off to college a virgin, if he goes to college? I heartily recommend this book.

Guitar Hero: World Tour

I love this game. This game has it all: challenging guitar, fun bass lines, decent drums, and singing... The singing is a little touchy and the drum's bass pedal isn't the greatest, but I know it's not gonna snap. The song also has 84 songs on-disc. It's a great addition to any music lover's game collection.

Harold and Kumar

These movies are not for the faint of heart... Honestly, my mind is a little perverted at times. That's why I loved these movies! They're about two guys, Harold and Kumar, and their adventures on their way to White Castle and Amsterdam (H&K Go to White Castle, H&K Escape from Guantanamo Bay, respectively). It's a stoner flick, and if your sense of humor is like mine, you'll love 'em.

Rock Band

Hey, everybody. I, for some dumb reason, never mentioned Rock Band. It's fantastic! I just got the Track Pack as well. It has some downloadable songs that PS3 and XBox 360 could download, but the PS2 and Wii could not. Rock Band itself has about 80 or so songs and is generally challenging. I only just recently beat all of the guitar songs, and I've beaten every Guitar Hero game except for GHIII:LoR.

More to come!