Status Quo Sunday Is Blowing The Hell Up

 I've done a bunch of shit since the last SQS, so let's go!

FURRY WEEKEND ATLANTA

 

WOW, WHAT A WEEKEND! I'm serious, this show popped the FUCK off, and I couldn't be happier! I made a bunch of new fans, sold a lot of merch, and most importantly...

THEY GAVE ME A MIC STAND!

Also I was a host for the live Fastest Furs event, which while relatively uneventful given my timeslot, was a great place to meet people I've only seen on the other side of a Twitch stream, and really, why else do we show up to these conventions?

Still incredible that we made 60% more than our goal for the Animal Park Conservatory!

Excited to go back next year, and yes, I will be getting TWO MIC STANDS! Maybe three? I dunno. 

Atlanta's also been the city where I've been putting a lot of my job applications, because as you might have seen in the news, Florida ain't going too great... 

A funny story I got is that I got a call for a job interview on the elevator at the con... while on my way to a Himbo Hooters meetup!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FUTURE SHOWS

Anime Festival Orlando- June 17th, 2023, 8 PM Open Panel Room

 

 

 

 

 

 

AKA The only anime convention that hasn't pissed me off yet! I remember actually doing pretty well, but this year it's the same weekend as CommanderFest Orlando, so I'm trying to get some cross promotion going. Of course, I will make it plenty early so everyone can jam in some commander games with me :D

Anthrocon- June 30th, 2023, 5:30 PM, DLCC Spirit of Pittsburgh

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the big time, y'all! I'm going to be crammed in a room, but this is the best way I can make it work on such short notice. THE PREMIERE furry con (well, at least until Midwest Fur Fest) but this is such a big opportunity, I'm making it count! 

PAWPERTY DAMAGE

 

Hey, a game I did music for made it to the final game! It's a tight little package that is a well constructed experience. There's not a whole lot there mind you, but what is there is 100% solid. 

I would like to do more music for it, especially if and when they plan to make more content for it. Hopefully someone else can run with it. 

JAM OF THE WEEK: "Call Of The Void" by Mutoid Man

My friend Milt introduced me to these guys through the series "Two Minutes To Late Night", where they are the house band. Coincidentally, 2M2LN directed the video, and Jordan Olds/Gwarsenio Hall makes an appearance as an "Imagineer"/Jonesy Spencerson. Mutoid Man is the name of a boss from the game Smash TV, and this is the closest I've seen them pay homage to its namesake.

"Call Of The Void" FUCKING GOES. It's constant motion and whining, screeching chaos that belies a song about avoiding despair, which GIVEN EVERYTHING is very necessary. I can "hear" everything without it devolving into noise or "Put Me In Clone Hero" shredding. Just a well put together song that varies up its central conceit to keep it recognizable without having it get dull or overly "pop"

One thing I like noticing in TV shows and such is when a character that's a robot has mechanical whirring effects dubbed in later like Jimmy The Robot from "The Aquabats Super Show". Here, the band is portrayed as an animation band, and YUP, the got the little whirs. Don't worry nothing bad happens, trust me.

The Status Quo Is Bullshit, Travel More

DUMPING GROUND FOR SAD NEWS ARTICLES
Shit, this was where I'd put links to all the news coverage of people protesting pride parades, that one where that far right militia got caught, anything that idiot Ron DeSantis has done, and drag events interrupted everywhere because neanderthals are more concerned with the children they both live vicariously through AND treat as property are going to be "traumatized" when we all know damn well that their WASP Mom and Dad are showing up to every school board meeting to bitch about "CTR" or whatever they heard from Newsmax or some shit.

Anyway my fellow queers, get a gun.

N.B. I didn't release this last week, since I was waiting on getting back from AFO, but reading the Roe V. Wade shit, castrate any and all Pro-Forced Birth Man, knock up their daughters, mothers and wives, and then set them on fire at the 4th of July party and say it was a Fireworks Accident.

PRE-ORDER HARDCORE NERDCORE PUNK ROCK!
COMING OUT JULY 1st!

The link will let you preorder it on my Bandcamp, Spotify and Apple Music pages! I'll also put out a pre-order page for CDs when I have a better idea of when those come in.

1. Future Endeavor
2. Status Quo Radio
3. Pass The Class
4. Cliffhanger
5. Radio Days Pt. 1
6. Thrash Panda
7. Force Of Nature
8. Space Tambourine
9. Hunting Bigger Game
10. Imminent Doom
11. Fire In The Hole
12. High Noon
13. Fuck Terfs (But Don't Have Sex With Them)
14. Hell Yeah
15. Take The Oath
16. Bastard's Reunion
17. Imminent Doom (AKI Version)
18. Fire In The Hole (AKI Version)

FWA RECAP

My show was at 8:30 PM in one of the panel rooms, which wasn't NECESSARILY the worst thing, but uh...

i wasn't sure i'd have a mic until 20 minutes before the show

and i didn't have a mic stand

So, I had to have one of my friends hold the mic while I played, and it WORKED. It gave the show more of a punk rock feel, and people even VOLUNTEERED to hold it! Still not ideal, but it just goes to show that my strength as a performer is to be able to improvise with what I've got, and NEVER give up. I put on a DAMN GOOD show regardless!

I just hope next year everything's sorted out, and I can get me some MAIN STAGE time!

Also I met up with a couple artists I've only contacted with through Twitter!

OTHER PANELS I WENT TO!
STEM Meetup- Now, this is a type of panel I don't normally see at other cons I usually play at, and it was nice to have something that's more or less for ADULTS. Not an 18+ up panel, but just a panel that doesn't make me feel like an old man. Met a lot of cool people there, and did get to learn from others who are in varying specializations and points in their careers

Cassidy The Civet's Concert- She's been doing a lot of cons, and I finally managed to catch one of her shows. She has great voice, but her set was mostly did Eurovision covers, so I couldn't quite get a good idea of her sound.

Survifur: FWA- Yes, it's a dumb pun, but it was an interesting competition, even if the stakes aren't a million dollar cash prize. It was also run by Cassidy the Civet!

Cut Content Panel- This one was run by one of HELLBREAKFAST's Friends and it was about cut content and the like in retro games. It covered a lot of ground in mostly NES-era games, but I can see how someone can get LOST datamining these older titles and how it helps us all better understand how they're put together. They're hard to make, even back then.

Anyway, 10/10 would go again if I had a mic stand. Between this and MAGFest, I'm starting to shy away from the smaller anime cons in my area and am trying to aim higher, or at least more specific. The crowd there are more passionate, and are more eager to share and create, rather than consume. It's cynical at my age, but I found a con that I 100% vibe with.

Furry cons are Ren Faires mixed with Pride Parades. That was my go to shorthand anytime any one asked what was going on, so take that nugget of wisdom with you! 

 ANIME FESTIVAL ORLANDO RECAP!

 This one I was 1000% better prepared for, since I... could bring stuff. I also debuted "Run Over Ronnie", and given that my show was on the same day a bunch of old crackers decided they were the coochie boss, the crowd was 100000% behind it.

It's a live staple alongside Fuck Terfs!

Also I had a merch set up, and even though it was out of the way, A LOT of people came through and picked up a shirt!

NEW MERCH: FUCK TERFS SHIRT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Given section 1, you all deserve something for Pride month going into Wrath month.

Honestly it was about time, and I FINALLY decided to it. I do have a copy of this shirt myself, and have worn it to the gym several times. 

RPG PALS CLUB ON ITCH.IO

This is the PUBLIC release of the RPG Pals Club Visual Novel I've been working on! Currently it's in Godot, but eventually I might transport it over to something where I have a little more freedom to do whatever.

Right now this is the first 3 "Acts" of Episode 1. Each episode will have 5 "Acts", and I'm writing the fifth one right now. When? I dunno. 

JAM OF THE WEEK: "Stop, Drop, Roll" by Can't Stop Won't Stop

So "The Bad Guys", the Furry Movie Of The Moment, came out on DVD on 6/21. 

They fucking knew.

Regardless, the movie itself was an enjoyable watch. The plot, although predictable, was charming enough so that I was along for the ride, the animation style was slick, and the voice acting was done, not by big name celebrities, but character actors!

What kicked off the movie, was this big car chase set to this song, "Stop Drop Roll" by Can't Stop Won't Stop. It's not an easily recognizable pop song, it's funky and the action syncs up to the beats well. Even in small moments like a sharp turn, or when the crew buckles their seatbelts.

Funk is one of those genres I've never sought out, but I always enjoyed when it's on, because musically it's so interesting. Layers on layers on layers, AND there's rapping. Nothing concrete thematically, more like "Scenario" by Tribe Called Quest where it's rappers flexing. Again, nothing terrible impressive, and it all flows the same, but fuck it, I still had fun.

Status Quo Sunday TRAVELS?

*blows dust off this place*

All right then!

NEW MERCH DROPPED!

First up, the Hardcore Nerdcore Punk Rock shirt!

 

Featuring the INCREDIBLE cover art by Hellbreakfast, this shirt comes in red and black, and all kinds of fabrics.

Next up, Kick Drum Vans!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enbiety helped design these, and WOW they look nice! Also pairs well with the Rhythm Bastard skateboard...

BASTARDTHON UPDATE!

 

You can see ALL of the segments on Youtube, save for the concert and the freeplay stuff at the end. Like I said at the outset, even though I didn't raise much, it still was a fun day! It was a chance to reconnect with people I haven't spoken to in a while, and I got to dip my toe into games I either haven't played in a while, or have always wanted to try

This ran A LOT smoother than the last Bastardthon I ran, since I now know what I'm doing, and I figured out a pretty good flow to how to run things.

What I'd do for next time?
-LONGER SEGMENTS-  Even when segments were feeling long in the tooth, some of the stuff we wanted to do was cut off RIGHT THERE, and it was like "OH, OK NEXT ONE!" Maybe an hour and a half slotted out instead of just an hour.
-Test the sound levels for my concert before hand and then MARK EVERYTHING FOR LATER
-Wider green screen. My current Green Screen is just two pieces of green fabric clamped together. Please give me money so I can afford a third.
-More crossover opportunity! I did have someone want to do Left 4 Dead 2, and others can join in, but the weekend I rescheduled it for didn't work out.

UPCOMING CONS!

Not ALL of these dates are set in stone YET, but I am working on the logistics SO:

Furry Weekend Atlanta- May 5th to May 8th
Mizucon- May 28th to May 30th
Biggest Little Fur Con- June 2nd to June 5th
Anime Festival Orlando- June 24th to June 26th

Mizucon's an annual mainstay and AFO I've played a few times, and am happy to go back to, but FWA and BLFC are brand new to me! I just hope I can be able to afford them, and at least get some decent buzz going. There's still A LOT to be sorted out, but I just hope I can make it worth the trip!

JAM OF THE... TIME I'M WRITING THIS: "Fancy" by Orville Peck

I've said for a while now that all the good country is being made by weirdos, like Trixie Mattel (drag queen that can put out fun pop-rock jams), Sturgill Simpson (MY ALBUMS AN ANIME, FUCK YOU) and Orville Peck (deep voice, cool mask, all atmosphere) because most of the mainstream stuff is either:
1. Trying to get a commercial crossover hit by being LITERALLY in a commercial
2. Boyfriend Country, which isn't BAD perse, but it's Pop or Adult Alternative but twangy
3. Facebook Grievance Country, aka "I'm a Boomer Dissapoointed in My Country (aka my kids are different entities than I am)

Orville Peck has this bassy voice that is just haunting. Not deep in the way Anthony Fantano would make fun of singers who ape grunge rock, but legitimately otherworldly, and he uses that to great effect in his songs.

"Fancy" is a cover of a Bobbie Gentry song that was made famous by Reba McIntire in the 1990s about a girl who gets sent away to whore herself out to escape poverty. It's a compelling story, which is at the center my favorite country songs, and Orville Peck by just changing one word, ("There stood a woman where a half grown kid had stood", replace kid with "boy") makes it sound more desperate. When it's all backed by a sparse, but well utilized instrumentation adds this gothic layer to it all.

Orville Peck is good.

Status Quo Sunday's Feeling Kinda Fuzzy

NEW CON CONFIRMED FOR BRAWL!

Otakufest! 

OtakuFest is a two-day festival that celebrates anime, manga, cosplay, gaming, comics, and more. You can dress up as your favorite character or come as you are, we aim to be a very inclusive convention. OtakuFest is new to South Florida’s convention scene, but its creator/show-runner Winji Mesadieu has been a part of Supercon as well as the South Florida convention community for over a decade. OtakuFest expects to bring in 4,000 people over 2 days for its first show in 2019. OtakuFest will feature activities and celebrities from the realm of comics, anime, animation, cosplay, manga, comics, gaming, and more!

It's also the day before Labor Day, so you can guarantee I'm getting all Socialist-y at this show. And you can get shitfaced and not have to worry about work the next day.

I did get word back on one OTHER new con, but I'm waiting for an announcement on them first...

SPEAKING OF NEW CONS...

MINI IWAI!

Mini Iwai was a blast as always, and the show was fun to put on.

However, my two favorite events of the day were the ones where I didn't play.

First up was "Cosplay Relay". which is a good concept that needed refining, and will be one to watch when Iwai: Rush comes around in a couple months. Basically, two teams of three work together to make a cosplay for a "model" (which I was) using a bunch of supplies provided for them. The catch is, every member is only given 10 minutes and can not communicate with each other. It's got potential, but it seemed like everyone only had a 80% grasp of the concept, so it needs ironing out.

Then came the 3000 Brigade Preview Show, which was just great.

As opposed to a preview show where our TOTALLY REAL BOY BAND B12 performed, it was Match Game where everyone was different charachters. We've done this before at other shows, and this time I was Tenya Iida from My Hero Academia because I spent $50 on a UA Gym Uniform AND GODDAMN IT I WAS GOING TO USE IT AGAIN.

Also turned out to be really popular. Huh.

MEGAPLEX AND AFO!

Same weekend, that started with Car Troubles: namely my car overheating a couple times and a hole in my tire. So I had to drive 50 miles on my spare, then wake up at 8 AM to get a new one the next morning. Then Sunday on my way home, my battery died.

ANYWAY, HOW WAS THE FURRY CONVENTION YOU ASK?

I had a good time! The night I got there, I caught Foxes and Pepper's Concert, which is the musical project of Fox Amoore and Pepper Coyote, two big musicans in the furry scene. If you're a fan of very folksy alt-rock, along the lines of say, Counting Crows.

The next morning, Fuzzy Logic had an escape room set up, which more cons should have. Escape rooms can do a great job of reinforcing the theme, get attendees to meet new people and are different than the usual fare. Obviously my team won, because Zero Escape vet here, duh. 



I was lucky enough to secure a slot in the Artist Alley via their Lottery system (ALSO A THING MORE CONS SHOULD DO), and I did WAY better than anticipated. I think I sold more CDs there before a show than any other convention.

As for the show itself, tech issues made us start late, but I wanted an eager crowd, and I GOT ONE!

Definitely a great experience and I think there might be a higher cross over between furries and punk than with anime/gamers and punk.

SO ARE YOU A FURRY THEN?

...Let's say Thrash Panda was something of a "soft launch"



Then I went to AFO, and of course Tiny Waves killed it at the rave.

Though people asked me about Megaplex with the same tone you'd use to find out someone was in the hospital...

NEW SONG: "FUCK TERFS (BUT DON'T HAVE SEX WITH THEM)"






For Gay Wrath month! Got a lot of requests for it at Megaplex, so I figured, WHY NOT?

JAM OF THE WEEK: "We Are All On Drugs" by Weezer



The tech issues mentioned earlier were that my laptop died, so I had to use whatever backing tracks I had on Google Drive, and I didn't have the Backing Track of "Hunting Bigger Game" with "Magic" by Mystery Skull tacked on the end, so I requested house music, and this is what they came up with.

So basically this makes Jam Of The Week because a week ago I ran around shirtless throwing Magic The Gathering cards to this song.

Status Quo Sunday Has A Full Dance Card

ANIME FESTIVAL ORLANDO!
Was fun! The AFO Rumble went well, I got to cosplay, and I got to see Roborob again! There will be a cosplay video, since I got a lot of good stuff out of that.

New discovery I made? I think Team Skull grunts might be my favorite "overdone" cosplay.


There's a lot at every con I see, but I don't have that same knee jerk reaction as I do with other common ones. I think it's because 1. Skull Grunts are goofy, but quite the center of attention like Deadpool or something. 2. They're meant to go together with other grunts. If you want to see something of beauty, watch two separate groups of grunts lock eyes, then break out into a "TEAM SKULL!" and dance.

JAM OF THE WEEK: "Welcome Home" by Coheed And Cambria


I'm linking a lyric video because the music video for this is boring and 2004-era metal band as shit. Also it cuts the song by 2 minutes.

Rock Band 1 was the first I ever heard anything from Coheed, they were that long prog song that sounded nothing like Rush, and more like Led Zepplin.

However, what I didn't expect was the lyrics to... enchant me the way they did. Again, I went in to "Welcome Home" cold the first time I heard it, and knew nothing about the band and the greater mythos. But there'd be a line that would catch my attention and make me wonder if it's more than just a regular "Well, then fuck you too" song.

Plus, the song is an epic journey undertaken by a sad, desperate man looking to make it out of the storm, but a-

You know what, I should just stop here.

UPCOMING SHOWS!
#MtGZzz

While all the big Magic stuff is going down in GP Vegas, some of the community members are doing a thing called MtGZZZ, which is basically a bunch of us saying "Hey, we're not at GP Vegas, let's do a bunch of Magic The Gathering stuff anyway." There's going to be DnD games, people streaming XMage and MTGO, and Discord stuff. Follow the Hashtag for more info!


Mini Iwai
I will be responsible for TWO events! My concert at 3 PM, and I will be part of the 3000 Brigade Event at 6 PM. I should have a table there, but in case that falls through, I'm going to be palling around with the boys and girls from 3K before the event.

Also my favorite tradition of getting drunk and watch AMV Hells in the game room after all my obligations are fulfilled.

C and I Sutdio Summer Series
More info to come, but this is an event series of various video game music acts, and it's going to be a fun time!

Status Quo Sunday Has A Lot To Be Proud Of

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!!!
This marks the first anniversary since the Pulse nightclub shooting here in Orlando, and the lessons we've learned have been ignored by this administration.

Now more than ever, it's important to remind all our LGBT friends that your lives matter.



 500 LIKES ON FACEBOOK!

I was going to set up a victory stream tonight, but it'll have to wait until Wednesday.

It was a long way to get here, and it was hard, but I'm thankful for each and everyone of you :D


MOMOCON COSPLAY VIDEO!


First time I've done one of these in over a year. I've been sitting on a couple ideas for a while, but Momocon was big enough that I wanted to go back to this series, and highlight some cosplays I thought were neat. Plus, it shows that I'm not just there to work, I get just as excited to get my geek on as you all are.

JAM OF THE WEEK: "Hard Times" by Paramore


A long way away from "Misery Business", eh?

Hard Times grew on me the more I listened to it, and can appreciate it as its own thing. Paramore have been moving toward Blondie-esque pop-rock since their self titled album. Even the music video has that dreamy neon color scheme that was so big in the 80's (allegedly). It's not sticking with me as hard as some of their other work, but it still brings a smile to my face and a groove in my heart whenever it comes on.

3000 BRIDGADE!
I am happy to announce that I'm working with the 3000 Brigade!

In their words:
"We are the 3000 Brigade! We are here to keep the peace in the Nintendo Universe... and put on kick-ass shows! We are a troupe of performers committed to creating enjoyable Nintendo/Video Game-parody shows, rated "M" for mature!"

I saw them at Mizucon this past year, liked what I saw, and wanted to get involved! I've have been working with them for a couple months now, and I'm really excited to show you what we've been working on!

This year our shows are going to be at the Anime Iwai events, with a preview show at Mini Iwai this Father's Day.

AFO RUMBLE!

THIS FRIDAY!

Status Quo Wednesday Gets Hit With An AFO

NEXT SHOWS:









Anime Iwai!
It's been a while, but I'm back playing LIVE!  

3:30 PM at the Double Tree by Hilton in Deerfield Beach, FL.I'll bre premireing a new song, and playing all the hits!



THIS WEEK'S JAM:


While at AFO, I finally got the second part of the Zero Escape series, "Virtue's Last Reward". I played the previous entry in the series, 999: Nine Persons, Nine Doors, Nine Hours. So far I haven't even seen an ending (of which there are AT LEAST 9), but from what I know of the previous entry, I love learning about the greater lore and the pseduoscientific bullshit that makes National Treasure plausible.

AFO RECAP:
AFO Rumble went really really well, all things considered. We didn't get enough people to do a proper royal rumble, but the matches we did have were OFF THE HOOK. Terrible Toad King was the Heel to my Face announcer, and

Ubers Cosplay put on a really good panel that served as a good Cosplay 101 class. Certainly a good primer for anyone wanting to learn a couple basic skills.

Got to particiapte in the Orlandia event this year, which is a card game that goes on every year at Anime Festival Orlando. This year I played some more of it, and it was really fun getting involved and going on the little quests they have laid out.

There were are also a couple raves over the weekend, one solely inspired by Undertale, where GameChops played some parts from their new Undertale Remix album. The other was just the general rave, but at 1:30 AM when I surfaced to catch some air (and because of my creak 28 year old man bones) I stumbled upon a group of 4 giving job interviews. It was fun, and reminded me of why I like cons in the first place.

Status Quo Sunday GETS READY TO RUMBLE!!!

AFO RUMBLE!
Yes, I'm all set for Anime Festival Orlando this weekend, there's an event page for the show, and you can pre-register here:
Sign up now to get a later spot!
 

THIS WEEK'S JAM:

Boy, it's sad how relevant this song is across the pond and 5 years later. The Republican and Democratic National Conventions are winding down, and I am among the many disappointed that voted for Bernie Sanders and came up short.

A lot of my friends are voting 3rd party because they prefer to "Vote With Their Conscience", but that attitude is what got Nixon and Bush Jr. into office.


Trump is all the bullshit of the Republican Party coming home to roost, and if all of this pent up rage and bluster is rejected by the American people, then hopefully that will cause them to finally calm the fuck down and take some time off.

FUTURE CON THINGIES:
Anime Festival Orlando:
The AFO RUMBLE!
Saturday July 30th, 2016
11:15 in the Lime Room (Panel 1) on Saturday!

Get ready to rumble in the hypest fake wrestling event that Florida has ever seen! 30 combatants enter fighting for glory in WWF No Mercy, one leaves with the championship belt and a special prize!
 
If you pre-register here, you will get a later spot in the rumble, increasing your chances of winning!
https://goo.gl/forms/MvBdzy4xV4eA4uup2

Iwai Mini:
Sunday, August 8th, 2016
Bastard No Rhythm Rockademia
3:30 in Main Events

This is a ploy to get more eyeballs on my event, but it's my first show in a few months! I will be premiering a new song at Iwai Mini. Yes, the Overwatch one.

Mizucon:
August 19th-21st, 2016
TBD

Still waiting on a schedule for this one, but it is on the docket!

Status Quo Wednesday Loses The Alliteration, But Gains A Friend

UPCOMING EVENTS:
 AFO RUMBLE! at Anime Festival Orlando and Mizucon are still on the table, next week's Status Quo is when I'll update everything, just in case a couple last minute things sneak through for August.

Other than that, I'm relieved I don't have a con thing until the end of July because then I have the opportunity to write new stuff.

For example, in the newsletter, I'm planning to include a new cover song with each edition. And as always, I'm working on the next Magic The Gathering track, and a couple new ones. I have a very crowded whiteboard, and as always I end up doing too much :(. At least I'm able to put things into Reaper now

Speaking of Reaper, I'm doing an Overwatch song, which I will premiere at my next con show. Guess in the comments who it's going to be about!

THIS WEEK'S JAM:


Yeah, this is one of those weeks where I didn't have a particular topic in mind, I just wanted a jam that goes by the theme I had planned. "Just A Friend" is one of those singalong songs that everybody knows, but they don't know. The chorus is as earworm as they get, but they always hear "He's just-" as "I'm just-" so while the song is actually about a guy who's being cheated on, most people think it's about girl who "friendzones" a guy. 

The song is filled with all these, "wait, wut" lyrics like "I asked her name, she said blah blah blah" and "I was talking to a girl from the U.S. Nation", but Biz Markie sells it so hard you can't help but have fun listening to him.



STATUS QUO STREAM:
Trying this again, it'll be tonight at 9 PM. Going to stream music work for a bit, then play some games.

Tonight's game is going to Hearhtstone, where's I'll be cramming in as many games as I can to improve my rank before the June Season ends. So far I'm at  16, highest being 11, so maybe we can get it done?