Since it's the holidays, I'm going to be giving away T-shirts, CD, posters and more! Also I'll be premireing some new songs!
In addition to that, there will be plenty of other songs music acts throughout the week, such as Ben Briggs, SPF, Teh Walleh, Noise Complaint and Geekapella! I'm also going to check out the Iron Robot Cardboard Cosplay event Propeller Anime got running, which is basically making a giant robot cosplay out of nothing but cardboard, construction paper and duct tape. Back in college, we had a boat race called the Roth Regatta where everyone had to build a boat out of cardboard and duct tape. JAM OF THE WEEK:"California" by U2 For all the shit they've gotten over the release of this album (it just showed up in Apple iTunes libraries), I've been enjoying the songs we've gotten from Songs Of Innocence in Rock Band. "California" is the one that's shown up the most, and the one I've liked the most. I can see myself cranking this up when I go up to Orlando this weekend.
U2 was always known for "big" sounding songs, meant to be blasted in arenas the size of two football fields, and songs off "Songs Of Innocence" don't feel as big, and it's nice to see them dial down the bombast, akin to what Green Day has done in recent years. The orchestral flourishes are still there, and Bono is still singing to the back of wherever the hell he is, but they sound just as good on a smaller scale.
Sci-Fried, Jackson Parodi, EyeQ and DJ Roborob all throwing down some music in celebration of the Star Wars! $5 cover at the door, and raffles for tons of cool prizes!
-My Dad is a HUGE Star Wars nut, so naturally he
took us to the Special Editions in '97 and The Pahntom Menace in 1999.
He was talking about it all the time, so I just assumed it was a big
deal. Then again, I haven't seen Captain America: Civial War yet, so it
is possible to miss out on an "event" movie.
-Possible feature to add to the side: Who Are We Throwing Our Money At? A collection of all the people we recommend supporting through Patreon, Kickstarter, Buying All Their Shit, etc.
ECHO CHAMBER EPISODE 181
-I think adding a "Hashtag" to things is the equivalent of adding Dad to it where it worsens and cheapens whatever the word is. #Courage- WE ARE SELLING YOU WHAT WE BELIEVE IS A COURAGEOUS MOVE Dad Courage- I'm going to try the DOUBLE Bacon Cheeseburger
#Jokes- I am ironicaly referring to what I just said as comedy Dad
Jokes- Hi ____, I'm Dad! See also, "I know you're good, but do you want
any more food?" and "You can tune a piano but you tune a fish?"
#Bod- This Instagram picture has a body in it. Somewhere. Alive? DadBod- Not fat enough to be fat, but fat enough to show that you stopped trying.
-Super Mario Run Trailer:
-It feels... desperate that the console market is working in
iterations. The main rallying point of consoles is that everything works
right out of the box, and the main thrust of this console generation is
that they want to be the main focus of your living room. I'm not sure
what these upgrades are supposed to accomplish other than "we're making
them better". Look at the "thesis" of the past couple generations:
-WiiU/Xbone/PS4: We want to own your TV. You can stream your TV
through us, you can browse the internet us, we want to OWN YOUR LIVING
ROOM. -PS3/360/Wii: Online mofos! -PS2/Xbox/Gamecube: I think we figured out this 3D shit you guys!
-Everyone plays video games. Especially during the 80's. However, a
lot of what changed our perspective of video games happened after the
Crash of '83. Nintendo fixed this by selling video game as Toys rather
than Electronics. Toy aisles back then had were separated by gender,
they picked Boys. Still, even in the early days, video games were still
popular with everyone.
However, as mentioned in the podcast, then shit got complicated. FOUR buttons? SHOULDER PADS? ANOTHER one?
Where games like Halo succeeded is that they removed the "feelbads"
from the game: Recharging shields, less complicated firing weapons, etc.
While the controls are still ridiculous to someone who hasn't played,
the game itself is more accommodating.
Though personally, I'm a fan of Powerman 5000's cover album with "Electric Avenue":
And yes, IndieGoGo.Space is an actual URL
This is BoBoBo BoBoBoBo:
It's about this dude who fights a tyrannical regime who wants to steal everyone's hair. BoBoBo, having a lot of hair, will NOT stand for this, so he roams the land employing his technique Hanage Shinken, or Fist Of The Nose Hair.
-The cosplay scene is verrrrry, shall we say, expansive? Like, there are cosplay models, cosplay porn, cosplay strippers, cosplay burlesque shows, and all of those exist in Florida because OF COURSE IT'S FLORIDA.
Hey Andy:
I want you to remember this in your DREAMS.
I play Dovin Baan, the planeswalker from Kaladesh. He was a fun voice to do. I tried to go for a British accent with some Indian influence, and while it came out well for the most part, except for the times when it slips into Irish/Scottish because I roll my R's as part of the voice I chose.
Hey, I'm Rhythm Bastard, a self-described Punk Rock Mercenary who makes music on all kinds of things.
For example, my latest album is a concept album inspired by Team Fortress 2, but it turned out really solid.
I also have a Facebook Page where I post up all of my latest stuff, and you can keep up with me there. I also post events I'm going to, such as OutCON, Florida FandomMania, and I'm on track to go to Mizucon. It's really fun playing cons all throughout the area
Finally, I do a couple podcasts with some friends called Echo Chamber and I'd Rather Not. Echo Chamber is a podcast about Music, Games, and whatever we come up with, and I'd Rather Not is where we answer Would You Rather Questions with hilarious results.
OK, so by now you're aware this isn't a listicle, it's a sad man's ploy to try to get some eyeballs on his music. Can't blame a guy for trying, right? It's hard out there for a musican to make a name for themselves, and my operation is pretty solo, so I figured I'd go bold with it, grab a couple shares, and at the same time vent a couple frustrations I've been having.
Today is May 4th, aka MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU which also is a little awkward for me, since being raised Catholic, my natural response was "And also with you."
I support creation over consumption in nerd culture, because without the dreamers trying to make their own thing, or the fanfiction/fanarts making characters that, in theory, belong to everyone and make it personal, all we have is buying shit. It's why A. I make my songs as broad as possible and B. I don't take it seriously when someone calls a woman a "fake nerd girl" who's "appropriating nerd culture". Cultural appropriation is about disregarding generations of traditions and history and diluting it down to only the aesthetic parts because fuck the people that made it. It's a lot deeper than "She bought that comic as well."
My entire Facebook and Twitter feed is filled with these articles speculating over the tiniest nerd stuff from rampant speculation to just merchandise, and I'm there thinking "Is this all there is?"They're not discussing the themes of the movie, it's WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN NEXT? Like, wait for the fucking thing to come out, you don't know.
That's what I liked about Episode VII when it came out: I knew nothing, and came out with a full movie. But that can't be the case anymore.
Yeah, a cover of my favorite Christmas jam. Not as crunchy as The Kinks, but it still maintains the bouncy fun of the original, and it reminds us that sometimes, that not everyone gets to have an idylic Norman Rockwell Christmas.Normally I throw away my Jank Tank (extra Magic commons and uncommons) at shows, but I've been trying to find a good YMCA or Youth Center to donate them to.
It also reminds us The Kinks fucking rule.
So, here's how the past few days have went:
Thursday!
RECITAL
I'm taking voice lessons, and this is a thing I do. I think I did all right, I think I have some video from that....
Friday!
STAR WARS!
In the event that you haven't seen it yet, it leans very heavily on you remembering that Star Wars: A New Hope exists, but it had interesting characters, and things happened that I cared about.
Saturday and Sunday!
HOLIDAY MATSURI
DEFINITELY up there as one of my favorite cons of the year. A mosh pit broke out, my foot got (a little) messed up, and I went to bed drunk. That's a rock star weekend if I ever saw it.
Bulletpoints:
-LOTS of Undertale cosplay. Mettatons, Sans's and Papyrus's were in abundance, a lot being at least "good". Really, the cosplay here was top notch, like everyone saved up all their energy for one last hurrah.
-Propeller Anime ran a bunch of interesting panels. I caught their panel on Nerdy Music and the panel Mamoru Hasoda. I have a LOT to catch up on this holiday season, namely cleaning out my car... They run anime nights at Bikkuri Lounge in Orlando, and plenty of other events at The Geek Easy in Winter Park, FL.
-Playing lots of Boss Monster. The object of the game is that you are an RPG game style boss, with the intent of luring adventurers in you dungeon to kill them. There's a fair bit of planning involved, as different rooms attract different adventures, and having nobody come to your dungeon early can be an advantage, giving you more time to prepare a badass dungeon, especially as more badass heroes enter town. Also you can screw other players over by making adventurers more powerful, with even one point of health being the difference between survival and defeat.
-Running games of Werewolf is a lot more fun than playing them, because you don't have randos wanting to kill you because you have a hairy chest.
-Not seeing the guests.
Update: My brother got shit.
No, don't expect a full write-up, but I was at I-Con at Stony Brook University this weekend. While there, I decided to give random people a CD of the songs I made so far, including a secret one JUST RECORDED.
Hopefully of the 5 demo CDs I gave out, one of you got curious and decided to check me out.
Well, just to sum things up, here's the rundown: This site originally started as a way for me to track my progress learning the songs from the original Rock Band game on guitar. Once I started playing Open Mics and expanding my repertoire, the blog now features Rock Band news, as well as my own stuff published under the Rhythm Bastard. I will do the occasional song update like I used to, where after I learned a song, I write up a bit about the trickiest or most interesting parts. All the songs learned so far, as well as accompanying tabs can be found on
So if you're looking to offer your opinion, or (hopefully) your expertise, feel free to contact me, or post up a comment.
How did I get the idea for the demos? So, I'm there when my accountant Phil calls me: Phil From Accounting: Um, while you're up there, why don't you do a little promotion? You made some songs, why not burn them on a CD and give them out at your table? Rhythm Bastard: Wow, Phil, what a great idea! PFA: Really? RB: Until I actually thought about it, fuckface. Tables cost money I don't have, and nobody wants to buy a CD with only 3 songs! PFA: Three songs, you mean you finished- RB: Boning your wife? Yes. Besides, I'd rather other fun stuff like watch anime, buy some crappy little pins, tell furries to yiff in hell, bone some fat chicks... PFA: I'm just saying, there are a lot of musical acts there, and it might be something to think about. RB: Pfft... Like who? PFA: AeroSith RB: They were interesting to watch, I'll give them that. But they didn't really perform, the synced up to backing tracks. PFA: Well, the guy there said- RB: What guy? PFA: The guy assisting with the show who wore a Jar Jar Binks costume said that they do record all the instruments live, but at shows they have to play it over a boom-box because of their costumes. RB: Really? You trust an Episode 1 character?
PFA: *watches link* *70 minutes later* Wow, that was really funny! Thanks for that! RB: I also boned your ex-wife 3 times. PFA: No, I'm not letting you get to me! I know you lie about my wife! RB: Ex-wife... PFA: WHATEVER! Devo Spice was there as well... RB: Like MC Lars, only less fresh. He's more... "dope". PFA: Marc Gunn... RB: “The Godfather of Celtic Music Online”? That's... specific. The I'm "The Emperor Of Muay Thai/Rock Band in New York Who Is Currently Wearing A Red Shirt and Makes Music" PFA: You don't know Muay Thai. RB: Yeah, but I know more than everyone else in New York who also makes rock music and plays Rock Band wearing a red shirt, so there. PFA: Lastly, Voltaire. RB: Shit, Stony Brook can revive dead people? I guess they really are a top research university. PFA: No, he's a musician. He made a song called "Brains!!!" for The Grim Adventures Of Billy and Mandy "He who makes a beast out of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man" RB: Oh, sorry, I'm an adult who does adult things. I don't watch cartoons. PFA: He drew quite the crowd, and seemed to put on a really fun show. For "Goth Music", they had some pretty funky rhythms, like mariachi.
RB: Pfft... Damn manchildren. Why can't they grow up and be responsible like me? I don't watch anime, or collect nerdy stuff, or read, or jack off, or play video games- PFA: Um, that last one is kinda- RB: Or fursecute, or dress up in costume, or read comics books, or play Dungeons and Dragons. I think I'm missing some stuff. PFA: Yet you were at I-Con. RB: Cognitive Dissonance is a bitch. Oh, and I don't wear really sweet goggles.
PFA: Wait, what? You don't own those. You could, but- RB: But the lady wanted $20 for it. *silence* PFA: Please kill me. RB: Nah, I'll let the Carbon Monoxide in my basement take care of that.
