Status Quo Sunday Has A Festival For All O Y'all

NEW SONG CONFIRMED: "Fahrenhype"

Hopefully there's one other spot I can get it to play first, but WE'LL SEE.
This past weekend I was at a little place called GeekFest, hosted by the fellows at Gonzo Radio. I wasn't performing, so I was pretty much just handing out business cards. Still a lot of fun things to do, like Magic The Gathering and Dance Central, and there were some wicked sweet costumes in the cosplay competition.

Speaking of Cosplay HOLY CRAP SO MANY DEADPOOLS. But they were giving out free chimichangas, courtesy of Grifter Cosplay Creations. Most cons gouge you for food, some are reasonable about it, but very few give it away for free. WOO! FREE LUNCH! It's like if Slave Leias or Harley Quinns were giving out (insert thematically appropriate food item here). Or Team Fortress 2 characters gave you free hats.

I got my first radio interview there! The Pow Wow Show talked to me for a little while, and it was hell of fun! My segment starts right around the 2 hour mark. Also managed to score an NES Advantage, Metroid, Metal Gear, and Tetris.

Later that day I went to Moonfest on Clematis St. Just being at a street fair took me back to NYC, and combine that with the actually kinda cool weather, and I was back :) But for however many Deadpools I saw at Geekfest, I saw at least twice as many Waldos.

Echo Chamber Episode 60 Post Game and Other Podcast

HAWLUCHA WILL OWN YOUR ASS

Since I'm not doing Echo Chamber this week, and I didn't have Pokemon X OR Y, lemme kill another bird with the other stone, also known as "Heel Turn: Fantasy Booking"!

OK, so this Sunday is Hell In A Cell in Miami, FL (that kinda rhymes), right? So here's what I think is going to happen:

Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton:
Hawlucha swoops in, just as Daniel Bryan is getting pinned, enabling Bryan to kick out. Hawlucha and Bryan team up to kick the shit out Randy Orton, and just as Triple H is about to come in and call interference, Shawn Michael's is all like, "Nah, it's cool," and give him the belt anyway. However, Bryan, realizing the bond he has with the Pokemon, leaves the WWE to become a Pokemon Trainer.

Alberto Del Rio vs. John Cena
It turns into a tag team match, after Ricardo Rodriguez finds a stray Hawlucha and get some revenge on his former partner in crime Alberto Del Rio. Hawlucha claws John Cena's face off and has to make a heel turn. Because he has no face, you see.

CM Punk vs. Ryback and Paul Heyman
Turns out Ryback really was a Pokemon the whole time. CM Punk then whips out his Hawlucha, and he and Heyman have a Pokemon Battle right there on the stage. It was awesome, you should have seen it. CM Punk wins and gets the Walrusbadge which lets his Pokemon use FLY outside of battle.

AJ Lee vs. Brie Bella
A solid wrestling match between two women whose athleticism impresses the crowd, and have an interesting plot buildup to this championship match. Through a long and arduous match, Jigglypuff sings and draws on everyone's face. Fuck yeah, Jugglypuff.

Rhodes Brothers vs The Sheild vs. The Usos
The Usos sound the most like a Pokemon, and The Sheild is a TV Show, but The Shield wins to keep the plotlines going. Stephanie McManon does something bossy, and I sit here cross-legged and said "You go, girl!" Also Stephanie McMahon is half lizard and half robot, and Triple H was the reanimated corpse of Hunter S. Thompson. They make out on stage and it's really gross.

Curtis Axel vs. Big E. Langston
Big E. Langston spreads so much chalk everywhere that everyone in the audience has a violent coughing fit.

Hawlucha used FLY! It was super effective (at cleaning up the chalk)! Hawlucha gets the title out of gratitude.

-Also, Film Crit Hulk crits the two Hulk films. Film Crit Hulk is so awesome.


ALSO, DRIVE BACK HOME WAS ABOUT MY FAILURES

Status Quo Sunday Rides in On An R-5000

SWAG.

NEW SONG: "Protocols Ordering New Youth (P.O.N.Y.)"


Yet another song where I came up with the lyrical hook first before the rest of the song. It's pretty techno-y, very rock-y, and I'm going to be working on a live version for sure.

Also spent most of the weekend at Past Present Future Comics for their 30th Anniversary, either playing Magic or talking to awesome people. I liked the "Talking To Awesome People" part more :(. You can listen to the "Drive Back Home" podcast for more on that :(

I talked to Ciny Morgan, who some of you might remember from Caddyshack and Tron. She was a super nice lady, even though I never saw Tron.

 Though meeting up with some people in the independent comic scene such as Paperlab Studios, Resistance Entertainment and Kechal Comics is giving me ideas for other stuff I can do with the story in the album...

I just want to get the next song done first, and maybe make another con booking :)

Right now, I'm working on a very special rap song...

Status Quo Sunday Prepares FOR SUPER GEEKERY

NEW SONG CONFIRMED: "Protocols Ordering the New Youth (P.O.N.Y.)"

If want to hear it this, let's say... Thursday... AND in tasty mp3 form, before I post it up for next week's Status Quo Sunday, sign up for the mailing list!

For a little taste, watch HotDiggedyDemon's PONY.MOV series:


Florida stopped being lame for one weekend and decided to have it self a SUPER GEEK WEEKEND

My weekend is going to be spent at the Past Present Future Comics in Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, between Friday Night Magic, the 30th Anniversary Party and Theros Game Day. So yeah, I'm going to need a sleeping bag, a new Magic Deck and more business cards. So while this week's Podcast Recap will be very light, considering Echo Chamber was a two-man cast this week and no Drive Back Home (I saw Anthony Jeselnik instead of going to FNM), you'll get two episodes of Drive Back Home.

Still, no matter how busy my schedule is, I remain ever the Taskmaster to bring you all sweet jams and the latest news. 

As for the album, more lyric penning, waiting to hear on feedback.

In other news, an alternative look at Man Of Steel for prosterity (a.k.a. cleaning up my archives)

On that note, I think Bizarro, while maybe not a good villain to carry a movie, could be a tragic and beautiful piece of plot for a Supes movie. Someone (maybe Luthor, yawn) attempts to clone a Superman they can control, or maybe reverse engineer Superman-like abilities with a few drops of his blood. They want to use it to discredit the original Supes and turn public opinion against him. Bizarro ends up breaking loose and rampaging.

Don't make him evil, make him really dishearteningly broken in the head. He just keeps trying to "help" and "do the right thing," but he gets it all wrong because he's mentally deficient. Think Lenny trying to pet the rabbits. The plot arc culminates in Superman realizing that no amount of interposing will ever stop Bizarro from trying to do the right thing, just as no amount of interference would ever stop Superman from trying to do the right thing. We see Superman crying as he has to beat the life out of Bizarro, who doesn't understand what he's done. Superman doesn't want to do it, but it's a burden he has to bear in order to make the world safer. Supes has a period of reflection on whether he's any different, or if he's getting in the way of humanity moving itself forward by coddling it so much. He decides that he has to follow Bizarro's example and keep trying to do right, no matter what, and goes to take on the big bad guy that was responsible for/controlling Bizarro with a new sense of anger and purpose.

Or something. Whatever. You get the idea.

Echo Chamber Episode 58 Recap

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

-According to the Bulbapedia, in the cartoon, the Pokedex Entry is "A flame burns on the tip of its tail from birth. It is said that a Charmander dies if its flame ever goes out." Basically, the rest of the entries are "if Charmander is healthy, it's flame will burn brightly", nothing about it's dying except for the one entry from Fire Red:
" From the time it is born, a flame burns at the tip of its tail. Its life would end if the flame were to go out."

-Also, according to Bulbapedia, Jeff was right, Lt. Surge does mention fighting in a war along his Pokemon. As speculated, he's from Unova (from Black and White), a region that's been torn apart by war. It also mentioned that he used Pokemon in the war. So this means one of two things:
--1. Pokemon are used in warfare
--2. Lt. Surge is a cheating dick, and used his Pokemon when everyone CLEARLY AGREED to use regular ass guns, which leads to two other speculations:
---A. Lt. Surge is still a cheating dick
---B. Pokemon, as a collective, are like that boy from the Twilight Zone episode with the psychic boy that would zap people to a cornfield.
 
-Ash's Coma Dream Theory of Pokemon. See also, The Rugrats Theory. 

-Ingrid Newkirk's Will, Section 2. Apparently, she is FUCKING METAL.

 -The phrase "Money Dollars" comes from this Penny Arcade comic.

-And now, THE WEATHER:


-And now, WAKE UP:


In other podcast news:
NEWEST EPISODE OF DRIVE BACK HOME, WHICH WON'T BE ON NEXT WEEK

Also, the penultimate chapter of Anime Cow Is Late For School:
Anime Cow Is Late For School Part 4: What Has Tobe Done
As the school was being destroyed by Dark Sephiroth Goku The Stampede, and Batman, and Goku and Picillo and Alphonse Elric were fighting him, Anime Cow was still late for school. but at least he finished his toast.

Goku unleashed a Kamehamaea attack and Picillo was doing his special beam cannon, Alphonse Elric said "It's no use! He's too strong!"

"We need Anime Cow and his Mystical Power to help us!" said Goku.

"I'M BATMAN!" said Batman, throwing a batarang.

"You two! Come help us!" said Piccillo pointing at Arcanon and Jeff.

"Yeah, I mean John O' Hurley was good, but- Oh" said Arcanon. "C'mon, Jeff, if we use our Monster: The Dueling cards, we can stop him"

Then Principal Rhythm Bastard and his silky smooth voice came over the loudspeaker: "Just a reminder, even though Dark Sephiroth Goku The Stampede is attacking the school, Monsters: The Dueling cards are banned from school grounds as they promote gambling"

"Oh..." sighed Arcanon.

"Those damn Kindergarters ruin everything!" yelled Jeff. "I lost 20 bucks to those little bastards!"

Suddenly Dark Sephiroth Goku The Stampede grabbed Arcanon and Jeff and slammed them against the wall using magical restraining energy which he could totally do the whole time. At the last second, Arcanon took off his glasses, and threw them at the Dark Sephiroth Goku The Stampede. Unfortunately, Batman threw a batarang and knocked them out of the way.

"I'M BATMAN!!!" whispered Batman.

"I can't move!" said Arcanon who was stuck under the magical restaingt magic that Dark Sephiroth Goku The Stampede had the whole time. "Quick, use my glasses!"

Jeff then channeled the ancient 3000 year old wolf spirit that lived inside him, and his beard reached on to the ground where Arcanon's glasses laid on the floor. His beard picked them up and put them over Dark Sephiroth Goku The Stampede's eyes. Suddenly, Dark Sephiroth Goku The Stampede saw a hellish landscape that was so horrible, I could not be bothered to describe it. He recoiled in horror and dropped the two students on the ground.

Arcanon, because he was the smart one, picked up Jeff's bottle of Dewar's, put his tie in it, lit it on fire, and threw it at Dark Sephiroth Goku The Stampede. He was on fire and was reeling backwards and crashed through a chalkboard.

Just then, Mystakin, who was late to school, but not as late as Anime Cow, went right up to Dark Sephirothe Goku The Stampede's face said The Ultimate Tsundere Insult:

"Hey... You're a Baka Gaijin!"

"OH NO! NOW I AM EMOTIONALLY HURT AS WELL!" said Dark Sephiroth Goku The Stampede. Mystakin, Arcanon and Jeff high fived each other, but they heard a laugh. "FOOLS! YOU HAVE YET TO SEE MY FINAL FORM!!!"

Suddenly, Dark Sephiroth Goku The Stampede was 20 feet tall and was glowing green and yellow and blue and was a super buff wizard.

Suddenly, Super Indendent Owen's went on the loud speaker "Attention Students, I will taking over as princibal, as Rhythm Bastard not only lets his students be late to school, but also killed all the kindegarteners and has allowed Dark Sephiroth Goku The Stampede to reach his final form. ANIME COW WHY ARE YOU LATE FOR SCHOOL?!?"

 "Hey DORK Sephiroth Goku The Stampede" said Anime Cow, kicking down the classroom door. "I came here to kick ass and eat toast....

...And I finished my toast!"

TO BE CONCLUDED

Status Quo Sunday Battleground

OK, one half of The Real Americans is Antonio Cesaro, who's fluent in 5 languages. Zeb Colter, I find your behavior suspect.

HEY RHYTHM BASTARD, WHATCHU BEEN DOING?
-Not a whole lot to talk about since last week, trying to book a few last minute cons. I'm trying to squeeze one more in, to make it a nice round 5.

-NEW SONG!!! Finishing up a song, whose tentative title is now "Class 5 Hurricane" for Status Quo Radio. Heavy shit with a mosh-y breakdown. I might have to call in for backup on the drums, though.

-NEW SONG!!! Considering both Two Best Friends Play and SuperGreatFriend both finished up their Let's Plays of it recently, a rap song based off another game by an auteur game designer, Indigo Prophecy, a.k.a. Fahrenheit. I remember the game being good for the first half, but after a certain point, it clearly shits the bed, and you can tell where the designers went OH FUCK DEADLINE, and then it turns into a rushed mess where multiple factions and mythologies are fighting each other.

-Watching CM Punk beat Ryback, all while playing "Cult Of Personality" in RockSmith.

Speaking of which, I am BEYOND hype for Rocksmith 2014. Knights Of Cydonia, Bob Dylan, THE KINKS?

-NEW SONG!!! Similar to "From A Mile Away" and Pure Pwnage, another song based off another internet meme.

I'm trying to write/arrange stuff that would go better live, where it feels more natural playing it. This new batch of songs so far FEELS right, and they're going to be fun to work on, I just know it. Hopefully I'll have a convention to play them at, but in the meantime, I'll post them up to the mailing list peoples first. 

-Holy shit, Daniel Bryan got AIR. You now know how long it takes for me to write these things.

Anyway, I'm off to start to write this week's recap ahead of time, as my "Drive Back Home" is all set up and a certain feature from previous weeks will be returning :)

-GOD DAMN IT BIG SHOW, NOW YOU'RE MAKING ME CRY 

Podcast Recap Time

First off,

OLD RELIABLE ECHO CHAMBER!!!

So, this was about Hate Songs, so I'ma just link them:
-"Hey There Delilah" by Plain White Ts.
-"I Hate Everything About You" by Three Days Grace
-"Home" by Three Days Grace
-"Break" by Three Days Grace
-"Cold (But I'm Still Here)" by Evans Blue
-"Click Click Boom" by Saliva
-"Here To Stay" by Korn
-"Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke
-"The Stroke" by Billy Squire
-"Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus
-"Dynamite" by Taio Cruz
-"Scream and Shout" by Will.i.am and Britney Spears
-"Walk" by Foo Fighters

 What are your Bottom 10 songs?

NEW PODCAST 1: MAGIC THE BLATHERING- THEROS
Me, Jeff, AnimeCow, and two of Jeff's friends talk about Theros, the newest Magic The Gathering Set. So far, I'm liking it.

NEW PODCAST 2: DRIVE BACK HOME
Influenced by Mark Rosewater's Drive To Work, it's a podcast I record on my way home from FNM. Usually I'll post these up on this blog on Saturday's after I record them. 

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.