Status Quo Sunday INVANDED ATLANTA!

MOMOCOOOOON!

The show actually happened! I played it, and people liked it! It's my first out of state con that I performed at, and I hope to do much more into the future, especially since I now need to know what do for future shows, and how to expand my setup and performance for the next one.

Momocon was awesome, and reminded me a lot of PAX East, but with WAAAAY more elbow room.

Most of my time there was spent on Magic stuff: I joined the Magic League to earn free cards, and got to catch a couple of the MtG Events. As it turns out, the people from Magic The Gathering really like my music and love the podcast I'm a part of Voice Of All!

This was a picture I took with members of the Magic Story staff, Kelly Digges, Alison Lurhs and Michael Yichao after the Magic Story Panel:



In the front is a cool guy named Wil, who made them sign Test Of Metal, which is where a millenia old plansewalking dragon notroious for his ruthless scheming says something tastes like "goat balls" and calls planeswalker Tezzeret, a very talented engineer, "Tezzy". Yeah, it might rival "Mills College Anime Club" for most embarassing thing I've read.

Anyways, you can read up on the Magic Story panel on my Tumblr.

You can also watch this video where I revivemy Dovin Baan voice:


MAGFEST VERSUS

Magfest did its own version of Nick Arcade. Nuff said.


INDIE GAMES

You know what's awesome? A con where you can play a shitton of indie games! What's better than that? Playing all those indie games without having to wait so much!

Some favorites:
Use Your Words- Created by BrentalFloss, this is a game in the vein of Jackbox Party Pack games, where you use your cell phone as a controller to type in responses to the prompts. The main difference is that it's not focused on getting the right answer, but giving the funniest response. There's also "Decoy" answers that add a bit of guesswork to the mix, to discourage you from picking what would be an answer that would get less points. The retro 60's TV Show art style looks appealing and contributes to the overall "kayfabe" the game is going for. There's a lot of overlap, but priced right, this could solidly fulfill its own niche.


Rise Of The Metronomicon- Dubstep Fireballs. It's a rhythm game with RPG Elements. Think Amplitude, where completing a measure grants you an attack or spell. There was only a demo setup at Momocon, but there were hints of a deeper system going on. The soundtrack features the likes of Ben Briggs, DJ Cutman, Mega Ran, and Jimmy Urine from Mindless Self Indulgence. You're not getting big names here, but I enjoyed the tracks they did have. I'm holding off until it comes for consoles, but you can get it now on Steam.

Distance- Easily the most polished game there, Distance barely had an empty seat all weekend. Distance is a driving/platformer game where you drive A FLYING CAR? It looks great, and while there are a couple spots where things get sticky, it's still in Alpha with a ton of new features being added regularly. There's hints of a story toward the end of the demo, but the three levels I got to play presented a satisfying experience that I might be tempted to speed run.
 
Grid Masters- Sometimes people will remember the weirdest games, and I'll be on that shit. For me, that game is Mega Man Battle Network. Grid Masters plays out like a fighting game with that setup, but instead of the randomness of the "cards", you get abilities on cool downs like a MOBA.The demo was setup in an acrade cabinet, which helped sell the fact that it's a fighting game. Still some tweaks to be made, but definitely worth keeping an eye on!

Brawlhalla- I've seen this game everywhere, but never got to play it. Basically it's a free tro play Super Smash Brothers, but with even simpler controls. You choose from a variety of interesting characters who's official lore could only disappoint you, and you try to knock the other characters off the platform. Like I said, Super Smash Bros., but it also is a little floatier in the way Tekken is where you can juggle characters if you're good enough. I got it off Steam, and looking to put some more time into it.

ANIME FESTIVAL ORLANDO RUMBLE 2017! 

It's back!

NEW VIDEO: IndieBox Unboxing- Steamworld Dig

 Ultracon Recap video coming soon, but an unboxing video in the mean time.

#BringBackTheBox

Status Quo Sunday Goes -.---.----.. And Then Shuts Down

Damn it America, I leave you for two days, and I find out the Republicans got all butthurt and shut down the government. ON TOP OF THAT, the hotel I was in didn't have RAW.

 

I was at a conference for work the past couple of days, so I couldn't do my usual Status Quo Sunday. It was a thing for work, and was boring as all get out. Since I arrived in YYZ airport, I give you this video:

Good news I used my idle boredom and starting working on new song concepts. With people literally throwing pens and pads at you, it was kind of hard not to write shit down.

I just discovered the Voice Recorder App on my phone, and I've been putting it to good use. Just the fact that I have a voice recorder I have ANYWHERE, makes up for the lack of a proper songwriting-on-the-go app.

So far I've only used it to record a podcast in the vein of Mark Rosewater's "Drive To Work" about my various adventures in Friday Night Magicing (don't worry, I'll use a separate site for it, since it is Magic related), but for little side things, it could come in handy. 

On the (long, ardouous) flights there and back, I took the time to read some of the independent books I bought stuff from at conventions. I was only able to make it through "Souled" and "Blackbird", and both have interesting premises that I look forward to seeing more of. 

Souled is sci-fi mystery about a transport ship that gets attacked and crash lands on a planet, and Blackbird is Native American mythos, mixed with Lovecraftian horror, where all I need to say is "Cthulu Hookers". This habit of mine started at New York City Comic Con, where I picked up this comic Twisted Dark, a short story anthology that I really liked. Honestly, the fact that such a scene exists, and me seeing it first hand continues to inspire me to do what I do.

 

For a song I'm tentatively titling "Class 5 Alpha", I had to redo it, but it only took me an hour or two to redo all the guitar work, so we're good. I should have it ready soon, and my mailing list peeps will get first listen before I post it up on SoundCloud.   

New Hotnesses

Me and my brother got Rock Band 2 Sunday!

Sadly, I spent all day working on a lab report, but from what I played it's still the same. The only problem is that it suffers from the same fate as Guitar Hero: 1st edition, great, filled with popular songs you heard on the radio yesterday, as well as quintessential songs everyone learns why they start (to play guitar/form a band). 2nd edition goes a bit... "indie". Less popular acts, and more obscure songs by popular artists. Plus, RB2's songlist a bit more poppy and more metal than it's previus incarnations. Granted AC/DC's on it, and I got it on a system where I can make a Virtual Bastard, and play online, and download DLC, and should proabbly stop bitching. '

Anyway, on to the songs!

GIRL U WANT
There are quite a few bits that are left out of these things it seems. Still a blast to play.

For example, after the hook "Just a girl/ just a girl/ The girl u want!" there's an awesome little lick that goes like this:

E)-----------------------------------
B)-----------3--------3--5-----------
G)--4--2--3-----2--3-----------------
D)--------------------------2--------
A)-----------------------------------
E)-----------------------------------

Solo's a bitch, with it's bends and upside down power chords:

E----------------------------------------------------------------------------
B-----------6^--6^---------------8^---8^------------------8^--6^--------
G-----------8^--8^--------------10^--10^-----------------8^--8^--------
D--10^---7--------------12^---9 ---------------10^---7-------------------

E---------------8^---8^----------------------------------------------------
B---------------10^--10^-------------8^---8^-----------------6^--6^----
G----12^---9-------------------------10^--10^----------------8^--8^----
D---------------------------12^----9 ----------------10^---7--------------

E--------------------------
B-----5^-5-5-5^-5-5-5^---
G-----7^-7-7-7^-7-7-7^----
D-----------------------------

It's fun, but hard to keep track of fast. It helps to look at the fret you're going to bend next.

MISSISSIPPI QUEEN
Good southern rock song, especially to work on pentonic scales. Only caveat is that you need rhythm guitar to play properly in a real band. According to a source I didn't TOTALLY rip off, both versions try to cram in rhythm as well, Rock Band less so. The hard part is memorizing all the different licks. Another song that should have been much harder.

Pentonic scales are good because unlike GH and RB where you have to move your hands up and down the neck, you move your finger up and down the strings for a fine solo. It's mostly used for improvisation in more traditional blues. Here's the first pentonic scale I learned:

E-------5---8-----------------------------------------------------------
B----------------5-----8---------------------------------------------
G---------------------------5----7-------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------5----7-----------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------5---6---7--------------
E-------------------------------------------------------------5-----8--

SETLIST UPDATED