Sunday, June 30, 2013

Status Quo Sunday Gets Your Love Coming

That was just the last song I PT'd for this week's Rock Band Network.

"Pass The Class" is in Peer Review, "Robotman's Lament" and "Playin' Invisiball" are still in Playtesting. 

ANYWAY, what's been going on with the album?

Not a lot, but right now there's a bit of stuff going on behind the scenes. My brother's helping writing the lyrics to one song that I'm redoing, while I'm getting started on a later track. It's stalled, but not stagnant.

I sent out what I have to some fellow podcast bros, and have gotten back good feedback. 

This week was mostly job hunting and my brother's birthday, but I do have two podcasts to recap. Good news is that they're both associated with E3, so I can kill 2 late to the party birds with one late to the party stone.

Right now, I have 2 cons on the horizon: Umicon Daytona in Daytona Beach, FL and Sands Of Anime in Cocoa Beach. Both of which I'll be playing with S.S. Hanami, a band that takes a lot of its influence from J-Rock and Anime. I'd recommend checking out the track "Intervals" off their album "Original Soundtrack". If I have (let's say) 5 cons under my belt by the end of the year, I'll make a "Special Edition 2013" version of either of the posters I have made up so far with all the cons, sort of like a "Tour List".

ALSO, I've gotten all of my streaming stuff set up, so follow me on Twitch.tv so you know when I start streaming tomorrow night. (Magic 2014!)

Friday, June 28, 2013

Happy 21st Birthday To The Rhythm Brostard

More material coming soon, but I'd just like to give my younger brother Brian a shout out on the big 2-1!

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Nerdapalooza 2013 Or Bust!



THEY'RE BACK!

Nerdapalooza is a music festival that takes place in Orlando that celebrates all that's good in nerd music: nerd rock, nerdcore rap, chiptune and video game music.

Looking at who's been announced so far, there is not one artist that I'm not psyched for:
They Might Be Giants- This is going to be one hell of a set!
brentalfloss- Always good for a laugh
The Protomen- Loved them at PAX East
Scahffer The Darklord- Funny guy
MC Lars- AND WHO IS THIS GENTLEMAN THAT HAS SONGS IN ROCK BAND?
MC Frontalot- Also saw him at PAX East
Adam WarRock- Has a donation drive going on right now and puts out a ton of great music.

I just finished up my musician application, so keep your fingers crossed!

In other news, NewGrounds Audio Death Match looms near, and I need to put up a song for my audition, so I put a little poll on the side bar, as well as my FaceBook page.

Monday, June 24, 2013

Status Quo Sunday and The Cruisers

So between job hunting and visiting some friends in Miami this weekend, very little progress on Status Quo Radio has been made. HOWEVER, while I've added nothing to the file, I've got the main riffs down, and really, that's the hard part for me. The other hard part is the lyrics.

Words and music my friends, words and music.



That's what I like about you, 'cause I love that dirty water, oh Boston, you're my-

Oh.Ohhhhh...

Can I talk about this movie for a second?

"Eddie and the Crusiers" I put into the same category as "Kung Pow: Enter The Fist" as a movie that I know is not technically great (it doesn't know whether or not to be a mystery or a drama, the former of which it gives away in the beginning, the latter hampered by the fact that it has to server the former), I still love. "Eddie and the Cruisers"'s main strength lies in the music, done by John Cafferty and the Brown Beaver Band.

The film is about two different stories, one told in real time, and one told in flashbacks: the present day story concerns a television reporter named Maggie Foley (Ellen Barkin) investigating the mysterious death of musician Eddie Wilson (Michael Paré) and the search for his band's second album, which disappeared from the vaults of Satin Records the day after Eddie's alleged death. Maggie goes to the band's "Wordman", Frank Ridgeway (Tom Berenger) to recount his memories of the band.

It's interesting how a rocker type like Eddie rejects playing at a university, but takes a liking to the book smart Frank, and the relationship between the two works without resorting to the cliche "HEY I LEARNED A THING FROM YOU AND YOU LEARNED A THING FROM ME".

The cinematorgraphy in this is also great, with shots that keep the mystery and tension of a scene going for as long as possible, as well as hinting at certain things, like the camera panning down from one scene to the next one where the band is recording a second album, called "Season In Hell" (CUZ IT'S LIKE HELL U GET IT?)

While despite the fact that it takes place in the 1960's, the sound they chose for The Cruisers sounds a lot like Bruce Springsteen. It's cool, if a little inaccurate, but the movie takes great pains to mention that their sound was ahead of their time.

Like I mentioned before, the story goes to crap in the last 20 minutes where the characters completely change motives, and all this intrigue gives way to a "mega happy ending" that would make "The Dark Knight Rises" roll its eyes. Regardless, with a catchy soundtrack, and an intriguing setup (at least for the first hour), I'd recommend it!

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Hero Hype Con Recap

Facebook and Tumblr peeps have already seen this, but here's my Hero Hype Con Recap Video:


And now those aforementioned shout-outs (seriously, I met a LOT of people):
LAST LAFF MAGAZINE- The dudes who ran the show. Thanks! The "Let's start up a convention!" thing seems to be springing up a lot (at least in Florida), it's something I can respect in a way, and you'll never know what will catch on.

BRONIES OF SOUTH FLORIDA- The guys who I ripped off the pics from. (Sorry!) Talking to them for a bit, it sounds like they're a group that just goes to conventionsand goes on outings and stuff, kind of like the Boy Scouts, only instead of starting campfires and helping old ladies across the street, they watch My Little Pony. That's what Zippo Lighters are for.

DARKSIDE GLOBAL- A comic anthology that's looking to promote themselves at the convention. There's not a lot there right now, but it looks promising.

CHARLES HDEZ- Artist of aforementioned comic. I won a free print from him, that now hangs on my wall!

GRIFTER'S CUSTOM CREATIONS- Sponsor of the convention, they had a ton of great costumes to show off! They gave away a Red Hood mask to the winner of the costume contest.

KEVIN JOESPH - Comic artist who was giving away free ebooks of his comics Tart and Underwars.

BABY RABIEZ- People who sold all kinds of Fandom Merch. I got me a The Misfits belt!

THOR (Ryan Frye)-This guy looked A LOT like Thor. I mean seriously, he was really good. He was also in a short fan-film called Thor: Legacy which was better than what I was expecting.  

MADALORIAN MERCS- Like the 501st, they're a costuming group that helps out charities and creates quality costumes. They have a lot more personality to them, coming in different colors, configurations, and battle wear, and the red one won 1st place in the costume contest (which I helped judge). I really do have a lot of appreciation for guys who have the craftsmanship (and money) to put these together.

PLANET X: PART II: THE FROZEN MOON- One of the many short films going on there.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Status Quo Sunday Finds Out What A "Mizu" Is

Mizu? (Hungarian for "What's up?") How was your Father's Day?

Anyway, MizuCon (which means "water" in Japanese, which I guess makes sense, since we're in Florida) was a GIG OF LEGEND.

THAT I GOT ON VIDEO!


I was opposite some very stiff competition, but everyone who showed up loved it! Really, there was very little I would look back on and say "OOOOH! WHY?"

It was the best setup I've had for a gig in a long while, and the staff there was super helpful and super accommodating.

SETLIST:
1. Status Quo Radio
2. Axe Cop: The Song
3. Force Of Nature
4. Cliffhanger
5. Holiday (Green Day Cover)
6. Plug In Baby (Muse Cover)
7. From A Mile Away (Boom Headshot)
8. Knowledge (Operation Ivy)/She (Green Day)/Freeze Frame (J. Geils Band)/One More Night (Maroon 5)/Duck Tales (Theme) Medley
9. NEW SONG
10. Hell Yeah

NOTES:
-Holy shit I'm (comparatively) old. Average age was easily too young to drink.

-Homestuck is a ginormous thing, ala Dr. Who, that I'm clearly missing out on. It was so popular that it has it's own tag on Tumblr.I'm not reading it, however, out of some sort of hipster spite. (Actually it's because it's one less thing that I need to get involved in right now, since I'm still looking for a job and working on Status Quo Radio. See, there I mentioned it!)

-Sweet Rolls would go AMAZING with Coffee. You're thinking "OH SNAP! I sure wish I had a nice cup of joe right now!" Well, it's 10:30 by me, so no, not right now. So basically I plan on scoring some ASAP. I tried them for the first time at this little side shop they had. It wasn't the food stand, which had the usual soda/pizza/chips combo, but this room they dubbed the "maid cafe", which had a lot of Japanese Snacks like Pocky, Sweet Rolls, Almond Buns, Ramune, and Ramen (which is just confusing).

Ramen was going for $3 a bowl, which would normally cause one to scream "RIPOFF!!" However, that's GOOD compared to how much they were selling it for on my college campus.

-The way it was set up took me back to how I-Con was set-up, where people would be walking past your panel as they go about their business, and that did get me some foot traffic, as opposed to Hero Hype Con, where I was on the center stage.

-You know, the Hungarian translation of Mizu works just as well, since it's a convention, and people are going "What's up?" to each other. And since I saw a lot of people from Hero Hype Con there, I said "What's up?" a lot. 

-"Hell Yeah" was easily the highlight of the show, and my camera ran out of battery after my medley.

-I taught someone how to play Magic The Gathering. It gets a little confusing at first, but I think she got it.
Yu-Gi-Oh was BY FAR the card game of choice there, but one should never doubt the power of the MtG. I think there was a 6 person game going on.

-Also got in another game of "Cards Against Humanity". This one was different, because we actually decided to stop at a point (First to 7). Usually CaH games go until the deck is completely emptied out. 

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Status Quo Sunday Gets Hyped For The Heroes

Obviously, no work on the album was done, but I did get to play "Status Quo Radio" live. SO TECHNICALLY IT COUNTS.

So, Hero Hype Con has come and gone, and I sit here at my desk almost 24 hours later, looking at the pictures I took and the (many, many, MANY) fliers and business cards I collected, thinking about all I have to do this coming week.

For their first year, The Hero Hype Con, despite some technical stuff everyone had to work through, was at least a fun day out for some local people and some promotion for the local vendors. I'm sure next year, now that the awkward inaugural year has been out of the way, everyone knows what to expect, so things will go a lot smoother.

As for the show itself, I saw a fan film "Thor: Legacy" which featured a really good Thor, played some Mario Kart 64, got a The Misfits belt, and even helped judge the costume contest!

Maybe next year I could get a table to sell my wares, but I was able to exchange some information and talk to some really nice people. 

There are a ton of people I want to give shout outs to, but honestly, I just want to get my thoughts down, and start playing Duels Of The Planeswalkers editing the recap video.

Many thanks to Carlos Soto, Alexander Priddy, Stephanie (never got her last name but she'll know who she is) and the rest of the crew for letting me perform, and they both deserve major props for setting up their own convention, and even in their costume contest, promoting a DIY attitude.

SETLIST:
1. "Status Quo Radio"
2. "Cliffhanger"
3. "Heroes Die"
4. "Axe Punk"

I would/could have gone for longer, but it was my first time playing live in a while, AND I only practiced for a 15 minute set. Toes were tapping, people were clapping, I'm invited back for next year and that's all I really need.

While not quite a Gig Of Legend, it was not recorded because of reasons I'll put down in the recap video.  

...DAD

Friday, June 7, 2013

Posters!

Once the rush of MizuCon and Hero Hype Con are over, I'll look into selling these proper. Again, once I get some more cash coming my way, I'll also take to selling the physical CDs myself as well. 

Monday, June 3, 2013

Echo Chamber Podcast Post Game 42

DON'T FORGET YOUR TOWEL AND DOWNLOAD THIS EPISODE!!!

This episode got kinda weird.

HEY ONTO NOT WEIRD SHENANIGANS...

This week's theme was songs that have become cliches...

LOOK AT ME, I'M INTO PUNK:
"I Love Rock and Roll" or "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett
Or, if they're OK with cuss words: "Anarchy In The UK" by The Sex Pistols
OR, if they're younger: "Basket Case" by Green Day

HOT GIRL WASHING A CAR:
"Pour Some Sugar On Me" by Def Leppard

MORE THAN ONE PERSON IS SINGING A ROCK SONG:
"Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey

IT'S THE YEAR 2000 AND WE HAVE A MOVIE TRAILER:
"All Star" by Smash Mouth
OR "Right Now" by SR-71

PLEASE BUY OUR BEER:
"Chelsea Dagger" by The Fratellis
"Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" by Jet

WE'RE MAKING SEX:
"Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye
Or, "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye

OH SNAP IT'S ABOUT TO GO DOWN:
"Welcome To The Jungle" by Guns and Roses

WE'RE FIGHTING:
"Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas

WE'RE SINGING AND WE'RE DRUNK
"Piano Man" by Billy Joel

WE'RE INTO RUSH
"Tom Sawyer" by Rush. There were no other songs made by Rush. Sorry.

I'M A NERD
"Tom Sawyer" by Rush. THERE WERE NO OTHER RUSH SONG.

Speaking of nerds...

-Otaku: Kawaii-desu-desu-kun, eat your pizza!
Kawai-desu-desu: No thanks, I'm stuffed.

-Me and my new waifu Shenequa-kun:

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Status Quo Sunday Goes OFF To The Conventions

Finished off "Force Of Nature", so I have the first 10 minutes of the album complete.

I don't think I'll get much done on it this week or next, since I'm prepping for the two cons I have this week. Here's the poster design I plan on selling, along with an 11x17 version of the album cover:


















SO, on to other matters:
-OFF, an RPG Maker game that's been become very popular in the past few months, has a Let's Play on Something Awful that is in the process of wrapping and HOLY EFFING ESS is it a hell of a ride. I'd link it, but they might be locking out lurkers.

Regardless, it's left itself open to all sorts interpretations, and you can tell a lot of thought was put into it. As a denizen of Tumblr, I've had every bit posted in GIF and JPEG form, and the ending STILL blindsided me. 

-Speaking of weird crap that's being LP'd, Retsupurae is showing us how to play the "Ambition" series.

Way before NewGrounds was the Williamsburg of the Internet, where lots of indie talent can be recognized, it was the regular crappy Brooklyn of the Internet, where there was titties and stick figures.

So I guess NewGrounds is the Las Vegas of the Internet then...

Point is, the Zap Dramatic series was probably one of the first more serious things to come out of NG. Looking back, these things were terrible. The answers were obvious once you figured out the pattern (talk about the other person), and the art was WOW BAD. And it hasn't gotten better.

-Finally, "Invisiball" has been put up for Playtesting.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

The Hero Hype Con AND Mizucon shows!

So, since Florida is the Convention Capital of the World, I'm going to be appearing at a couple of them!

Saturday, June 8th, 2013-
The Hero Hype Con 
It'll be a 15 minute set, but it's a new convention looking for some support, and it's only $10 if you buy before Wednesday at midnight. I'm excited to see what the turn out will be. There's supposed a lot of cosplayers, so if you liked my PAX East recap, then I might have some new material. 

Saturday, June 15th, 2013- 7:00 PM in the A/V Room
MizuCon
This will be an hour set, and in the A/V room. Whereas The Hero Hype Con is more comics focused, this one is for all you otakus out there. Again, it's got a heavy bent toward cosplay as well, and hopefully I can step up my game when it comes to on stage costumery.

I'm a little light on funds, so I won't be selling physical CDs, I'll be selling download cards for Dino Hunter MD: The Sound Track on BandCamp and posters (designs coming soon)