Status Quo Sunday IN YOUR HOUSE

APPEARANCE NEWS:
Coming soon to an Anime Festival in Orlando near you:
THE AFO RUMBLE!!!

X COMBATANTS ENTER, ONLY ONE WILL LEAVE WITH THE PRIZE... which we're still figuring out. But yeah, while I'm not playing at this years AFO, this is still just as exciting. Who knows? I might play a few guerilla shows in the halls...

ZONE CASTS RADIO STATION!
The plan is to have more podcasts ready with each weekly podcast recap, along with some more music and hopefully some filler stuff.

THIS WEEK'S JAM:


You should know by now that I am an unabashed fan of Janelle Monae. She's has an amazing voice, makes some beautiful music and is adorable as all get out. What you may not know is that Nile Rodgers is one of my favorite guitarists, who's done work on the greatest pop songs ever, such as "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk, "Magic" by Mystery Skulls, and "Le Freak" by Chic. He also plays notes at the exact tones and rhythms to achieve Maximum Sex.

Duran Duran is Duran Duran.

The song is to me isn't something big, or relevating, it's a bunch of my favorite people who got together and said "wanna make a song?" I've seen Duran Duran do more complicated and deeper songs, but there was really no need for it.

MUSIC NEWS:
While I am working on stuff, I don't plan on putting anything out publicly yet. I'll send a BRAND NEW cover to the Newsletter people, and will be premiering a new song at Florida Fandomania so it's not like I'm depriving you guys of anything, I just want to know what to do with it all.

PODCAST RECAPS for 5/28/2016: WE HAVE A RADIONOMY!

WE HAVE A RADIO STATION!

Currently Up:

• Echo Chamber Episodes 1-10
• Echo Chamber Episodes 160-166
• I'd Rather Not Episodes 1-11

The goal right now is to upload the newest podcasts I cover this week and a back log of about 10 new podcasts. Heel Turn isn't as high on the priority list, but I will try to slot it out, and as time goes on, we'll have better scheduling. and stuff like that.
 
I'D RATHER NOT: EPISODE 12
The only results I found of Zero-G Puking:


"You can't cross your legs! One foot has to be on the gas!"
I don't know about you, but I use one foot and switch between the two, so I can use my free foot to cross over my leg that's on the pedals.

Stand By Me Barf-O-Rama:

Marc With A C "Unicorns Get More Bacon" Album Review

Reppin' a fellow Florida musicman Marc With A C with his new album "Unicorns Get More Bacon":


The first thing you'll notice about Marc With A C's "Unicorns Get More Bacon" is the cover. It's obvious for a CD, even in these Bandcamp/iTunes days, but let it sink into your eye-holes.

A garish, pink and blue Lisa Frank trapper-keeper cover. The album's title barely readable, as it's written out in elements from the Periodic Table.  It's bright, attention grabbing, "quirky" and the combination of "Unicorns" and "Bacon" make it sound like something I could pick up at ThinkGeek along with my Death Star Waffle Iron and Taun-Taun Sleeping Bag.

Given how I feel about ThinkGeek, I was a little turned off.

However, I really liked Marc With A C's (or Cark if you work at Starbucks) sampler "An Introduction To Mark With A C" and his previous album "Exactly Where I Am". His catalog is full of fun, well-written, sometimes bittersweet songs that could easily fit in the past 40 years of pop music.

By the first chorus, the title made sense:
"They said the artist needs a patron, and unicorns get more bacon, but they cheer the loudest for what I like least" My interpretation is "OK, you said standing out is supposed to be profitable, but why aren't I being recognized?"

It's the year 2016. Everything needs to stand out and have its image and brand 100% ready. With social media being in every facet of people's lives, you are not a person, you're a brand. Everything you do needs to be omnipresent on every platform the second it comes to fruition. By standing out, being polished and doing everything right, you're blending in.

Naming your album "Unicorns Get More Bacon" and putting the cover on a relic of the 90's that thrives only in dollar stores was a good idea.

Confusion over our obsession with image continues throughout the rest of the first half of Unicorns. "Ethics In Gaming" is probably my favorite of this batch. The pounding kick drums and running bassline are a strong hook to get you into the verses, which lead you into the chorus that I've been feeling all too much: "Everything everybody does these days is a game.". It also name drops Guy Fieri and his stupid shirts. For whatever point he's making, there's always a fun line or seven to pick things up a bit.

Interesting enough, the only songs I'd consider skippable are the ones that don't really play into the overall theme, save for "The Ballad Of Dick Steel", a song about the guy who hosts "Nerdy Karaoke" at The Geek Easy in Orlando. The last two songs, "Falling Sometimes Down" and "Long Distance Dedication", both clocking in at over 5 minutes each, are among my favorites. They're both pleasant trips that get more and more desperate as they go on, culminating in fantastic endings, and LDD makes for a nice quiet closer.

RATING: 1/10. He's running a contest for a free vinyl copy and I want to seem like I've been unbiased.

Basically, a good album that I picked up at the right time, where after half the songs I'm going "Ugh, tell me about it."

Status Quo Sunday TO BE CONTINUED

Not a lot of news to report on this week, but I figured I'll update the whole con board:

CON NEWS!
FLORIDA FANDOMANIA
Still going on, not a lot of new updates on that front. 

MIZUCON 
Now I'm 100% confirmed for Mizucon! More guests have been confirmed including fellow SoFloConBros, but I'm sure there will be more and bigger guests as the date gets closer. Last year they got Johnny Young Bosch/Eyeshine, and this year's big voice guests have a lot under the belt. Also, Mega Ran.

 
Fun last year if only for the one night I was able to go.

THIS WEEK'S JAM:




...I may have been binging on JoJo memes... Not watching any of the anime mind you just the memes.

Mostly, as always I'm inbetween several big projects, and really the TO BE CONTINUED is me half waiting for the other shoe to drop, half stuck because I'm working on a million different things.

My voice coach suggested I go to this thing she was putting on about "making it" in the industry, and normally I'm cynical about these things, but I feel like it helped a lot. Both speakers, Marcus Majors and Rachel Galvin did a good job of providing the motivation and laying out the steps we can/need to take, and really it was advice I knew all along but was too scared to try, again because I have been so scatterbrained.

The goal is to have something new for you next week, so we'll see what turns up!

PODCAST RECAPS FOR 5/21/2016: I'm Not At OutCon. Shut Up

I'D RATHER NOT EPISODE 10
Why did cassette tapes skip in the first place though? Record players and CD players have very fine readers that can be

The IdRatherNotiVerse is a magical land where space travel is readily accessible to the middle class, shitting in a backpack is socially acceptable, and your decisions curse you forever.

Also, Glitchwave is a thing, but it's a website from the people who do RateYourMusic

I'D RATHER NOT EPISODE 11
What I'm getting from that opening is that this was John's forum Avatar/Signature was at one point than this:


The follow ups to my Eurovision song:
Our Governor Looks Like Lord Voldemort (and yes, the Attack Ad thing was true)
We Have A Major Roadway Named After A Shitty President
The Orlando Magic Play In A Stadium Named After A Pyramid Scheme

YTMND was Vine before it was Vine, and EbaumsWorld was 9gag/Cheeseburger before those sites ripped of Something Awful and boards.4chan.org/b/

ECHO CHAMBER EPISODE 165
-Star Fox Zero came out somewhat before recording, and so far the response has been underwhelmed. It's sad because Nintendo has all these cool space franchises like Star Fox, F-Zero, Metroid, that appeal to older audiences, but rarely get used.
At the very least, we'll always have "A Fox In Space":

-Push Me Pull You:

-With a little luck, Codenames will be the "New Big Con Game" after Cards Against Humanity and Werewolf, since it requires thought and deincentivises asshole behavior. Then again, that's probably standing in its way. I love word and vocabulary games, and Codenames is a great game for expanding your knowledge base, since you need to come up with words to describe your words, but avoid using a term to describe either an opponents' word or the assassin.

-White Wizards produces two games: Star Realms and Epic.
From the looks of it, Cool Stuff Games has the best prices on everything, so pick them up, and then get hype for when White Wizards drops my card!


-Johnathan Blow Talk:

-In The Shadows is available on Kickstarter, and you can check out the trailer here:


There should be a 16-bit Arcanon that says "Hi! I'm Arcanon, and this is my secret room! Don't tell anyone about it!" and then the rest of us come out and say "UGH! THIS ROOM IS SO FUCKING PRETENTIOUS GRAHHHHH!!!!"

-There were two main themes that weekend: Me disappointing Owen, and Jeff apologizing for the creation of "Assault On Psychofortress".

-The Different Priority Airline Clubs According To The Echo Chamber:
1. Priority Sky Business Platinum
2. Priority Priority Sky Business Gold Platinum Double Platinum
3. Mile High Club Dick Sucker Fucking Handjob Extraordinaire (Everyone gets their own handjob)
4. Star Platinum

ECHO CHAMBER EPISODE 166
-We talk Overwatch ALOT, so instead of doing a full breakdown and focus on my thoughts, I'll sum up all the characters in 5 words or less.
GENJI- Cyborg Ninja
MCCREE- Cyborg Cowboy
PHARAH- Rocket jump all day, son.
REAPER- When's Hatred?
SOLDIER:76- Call Of Duty Grandpa
TRACER- GOTTA GO FAST
BASTION- Fuck you, robot
HANZO- Japanese yelling? SHIT RUN!
JUNKRAT- Vroom Vroom? SHIT RUN!
MEI- Why can't I move?
TORBJORN- Sentry goin' up
WIDOWMAKER- Stupid Sexy Sniper
D. VA- We've weaponized gamers
REINHARDT- This gigantic robot shields
ROADHOG- The Hook Man Hands Man
WINSTON- Apes A-Zappin'
ZARYA- I AM HEAVY WEAPONS GIRL
ZENYATTA- Robo-Ghandi
SYMETTRA- I don't like playing herbutIlovetheanimaionswhereshe'sjustmakingshapes
LUCIO- Jet Grind Radio
MERCY- HEROES NEVER DIE!


-FULL BOOBS TEAM:

Kevin Nealon in Little Nicky, aka Magmar

-Soda Drinker Pro Quick Look:

-Extra Credits: Tracer & Pose Design 101:

Status Quo Sunday Got IN Trouble at OUT Con

It knocked over a lamp and it broke all over the floor. I spent an hour cleaning it up.

THIS WEEK'S JAM:

Particularly "Obsidian".

I was listening to A Fox In Space's Dev Stream.and he's big on 80's music and instrumental scores. This was in the background and thought I was listening to FTL's soundtrack, but it was actually from John Carpenter's "Lost Themes" album, aka stuff he never really used in his movies. Whereas his themes for Halloween and the like were tense and creepy, these are scary on another level. Spacemen all alone on a station when they hear a door opening in the middle of the night. Bioweapons escaped in the underground facility. A quick breath before the alarm goes off. This is the sound of the calm before the storm completely cut off from the rest of the world.

OUTCON?
OUTCon (which I do not know how to capitalise/write) did well for a con in its first year catering to a demographic (South Florida's first LGBT+ con) outside "nerdy shit". Plenty of familiar faces were there as well!

Most of my time was spent jamming out at my table, so I missed some opportunities to play some games and see some panels, but I got to make plenty of new friends and fans.

No matter how many times I have a con at the MACC, I ALWAYS have trouble getting to it, mainly because my phone decided overheat and I made the wrong turn on my way there. My phone is haunted.

Before my show, however, I was also a part of VundaBlog's Podcast panel where we talked about various shit and I expressed enthusiasm over a documentary series about aircraft. I'll link you when it's online.

I did my two amp setup at my show, but a lot of the crowd in the back said it sounded good, so I'm not complaining. Played a couple regular songs, played a couple new ones, including "Think Geek Is Not Nerdcore" and played my Original Five Nights at Freddys song, both going over well. SoFloConBro Chris of his movie (now on IndieGoGo) "Cosplay and Me" was the star of the night, filming live footage for his movie. I had my trusty camcorder on me as well, and recorded some footage off that.

Sandwich luggage, yo.

NEXT CON IS...?
FLORIDA FANDOMANIA!
June 17th-19th!
Hopefully I can get more updates on that.... soon...?

Until next time!

WORLDBUILDING WEDNESDAY: Jonesy Spencerson

A.K.A. The radio announcer who does the interludes for Status Quo Radio.
A.K.A. The worst character I ever created for the sake of the Echo Chamber

SQR Canon:
Jonesy Spencerson grew up in New York City during the Depression Era. The last of seven kids born, the first of five to get to work. He was lucky enough to secure a job with a paper route for the RED Paper, the The Crimson Post, later moving up to an Assistant Editor position when he was just 16. He was very attentive to diction and would often review articles at least three times over so that no objections would come from the higher-ups.

Several years later, The Crimson Post closed down after the Editor-In-Chief was found dead in his office. The death was, according to police reports, a self-inflicted sniper bullet. Around that time, disease would finally claim his mother, and whatever family he had left had to relocate to smaller, more affordable housing. They managed to find a place deep within BLU territory, and after a through background check (which may or may not have included brain implants), he was hired on as an Editor for BLU's newspaper, The Blue Storm.

Things seemed to be going well for Jonesy; he was married with two children of his own, had a house of his own, and was helping BLU enter the burgeoning world of television news. However, after his new Editor-In-Chief died due to (according to police reports) a self inflicted sniper bullet wound, he found his employment in dire straits agian.

Fortunately, he was able to salvage his employment be volunteering to relocate and become the manager of the radio station WQUO. When Jonesy arrived at the station, he was instructed via telephone that he would also be the voice of the station, to play the music and to read the press releases that came in via wire.

As per BLU Corporate Mandate, all releases sent to media outlets are done so anonymously. As per RED Corporate Mandate, all releases sent to media outlets are done so anonymously.

The previous manager of the station questioned why both companies would send in their requests, and after asking who actually owned WQUO, he was found dead later that night.

Cause of death was a self-inflicted sniper bullet, which rests on the studio desk to this present day. 

EchoChamber Canon:
He's a carny barker voice I put on to make fun of Dan Ryckert and wrestling jargon. He and Peter Molyneux won't leave my house.

Status Quo Sunday Watches Over You

OUT CON THIS SATURDAY! 

My show goes on at 3:00 PM, and I'm going to be busting out a lot of new material!

This week's jam:


Flobots feat. Rise Against? Well, color me intrigued. A rallying cry for pacifism in the Flobot's own unique way,  complimented by Tim McIlrath's belting out the chorus. Flobots hover really close to a straight hip-hop/rap group, because both "singers" just spit rhymes. They're both talented, and are backed by a band that can provide some dynamics beats. They even have a violinist!

Most of my time these days is spent applying for jobs, and I've been feeling kind of depressed and unmotivated because there's nothing for me to do throughout the day except be "on call" for when I'm needed. I'm just stuck in between pushing forward in this time I have available and trying to double down on a new job, but the latter is going slowly and the former is cut with "Do You Have Any Plans Today?"

I've also been working on prepping my set for OUTCon and playing a shitton of Overwatch while the Beta is still public. I had lots of fun with it, and will most likely pick it up, but I don't think I'll write an album with it like I did for TF2.

The reason why I was able to write Status Quo Radio the way I did was because each of the 9 classes in TF2 are so distinct, doing one thing very well, lending to 9 separate playstyles. Overwatch has 20 heroes (I had trouble writing 12 songs, so imagine that hassle) and operate on more of a gradient. For example, here are a couple classes that can be snipers, such as the two heroes Hanzo and Widowmaker, but they operate in different ways, the former having an ultimate that can obliterate multiple enemies, and the latter in possession of an assault rifle and a grappling hook allowing for faster paced combat.

At first glance, it seems likes characters are missing something key, rather than filling a particular niche but in it's own way it caters to a particular type of player rather than a specific type of role on the battlefield. There are heroes I'm better at (like Soldier 76 and Roadhog), and some I'm terrible at (most of the support characters) but nobody seems "useless" more like "nobody's broken them yet".

Anyway, working on new shit, will resume streaming, but I will post up a full breakdown of OUTCon next week. Laters!

PODCAST RECAPS FOR 5/7/2016: PAX East PAXnanigans

I'D RATHER NOT EPISODE 7

This was my pick, so I chose the question of: Would you rather have photographic reflexes, but forget things once you learn something new, or would you rather have super strength, but have to eat a shitton of calories to maintain your body.

The first option was inspired by Taskmaster BECAUSE YOU FUCKERS SHOULD KNOW WHY AT THIS POINT:

Depicted: A man forgetting who his wife is. 

The other was inspired by this post by Kelly Turnbull, the author of The Punchline is Machismo:

Superhero comic where the main character keeps struggling with balancing his crimefighting and civilian life with the like, 7000 calories a day and extensive exercise regimen you need to maintain those giant hulking bodybuilder physiques.

My favorite part of this podcast is Andy referring to his super strength as his "secret muscles"


I'D RATHER NOT EPISODE 8

Spider business is serious business. So, let's countdown the Top 3 Spiders I would not like on me:

The New World Tarantula is fucking gigantic, and really hairy, but is not known to be toxic to humans


Huntsman spiders do not build webs, but actively forage their food. Normally they don't bother humans, and the give warnings, but seriously, look at that thing.


Golded Silk Orb-Weavers build their webs 2-8 feet off the ground to just be dicks, and produce very strong silk. However, after I wake up and kill the spider I'm immediately distracted by the web 2 inches from my face.

I'D RATHER NOT EPISODE 9
According to Wikipedia, Blue Gender was heavily censored on Toonami, so lil' Andy could now see WAY MORE sex and tiddies in the official release.

Now, this was an especially depressing episode for me, because Owen specifically namedropped Chrisley Knows Best, aka A Southern Man With an Effeminate Voice Says Shit In The Middle Of RAW.

7 EPIC Things You May Not Have Known About Star Wars!

SHOW OFF YOUR GEEK PRIDE WITH SOME EPIC NERD SWAG RIGHT HERE!

1.  Rey is WHOSE Daughter? 

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.

2. Finn Originally Comes From Where?

I also have a Soundcloud Account where you can get all my latest tracks, like my ongoing series doing songs about Magic The Gathering:

3. Everyone's Favorite Character That ALMOST Didn't Make It In The Original Trilogy!

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

4. This EPIC Fan Creation You Will Not Believe!

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.

5. One Thing You NEVER Would Have Guessed About Princess Leia!

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.

6. A Peek Inside The Droids!

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.

7. Can YOU Catch The Maga-Star Cameo In THIS Scene?

I Guarantee This Status Quo Sunday Will Be More On Time

OUT CON  
Florida's first LGBTQS oriented CONVENTION! 



I'm playing it's inaugural year and will having a table there to have some T-shirts, CDs, AND a brand new poster for sale.

You can also hang out and spell sling some Magic The Gathering if you're looking for something to do in between panels!

Show's at 3 PM, and you can see the rest of the schedule here:
http://www.outconvention.com/schedule-2016.html

 

THIS WEEK'S JAM:


I've been on a They Might Be Giants kick recently, listening to Flood before I delve into the 33 1/3 book about said Flood. Then I remembered they did the theme song for the show "Malcolm In The Middle", which I remember liking back in the day, mostly due to it coming out at the right time, since the show was about Malcolm, smart teenager who was constantly crapped on, which a brainy 13-year old RB can relate to.

Boss Of Me is kind of straightforward for a TMGB music video: they're action figures that get screwed around with. I've seen weirder and more conceptual videos from them, but this is still a fun watch. 

After AV Club posted a link to an article about TV's Dwindling Middle Class, it got me thinking about MitM and just how destitute the family was. It's very curious how you don't see shows about people in that position anymore, because with all the issues of income inequality and such, you really need a public platform where we can empathize with people struggling to get by, not in a "oh, those poor rich people", but like "Hey, we're dealing with a problem the people at home can deal with" and the benefit of TV is that the characters can either have little victories that fill us with hope or fail so spectacularly they can laugh and say "At least I'm not THAT guy!"


MTG GAME DAY
I went 3-2 running a U/R goggles deck focused around Thing In The Ice that Todd Anderson ran. I made the Top 8, but lost in the quarterfinals. I had to borrow a lot before the event itself, and replaced a couple cards at the last minute. I liked the look of the deck because there are a lot of fun things you can do with control and comboing off spells to flip Thing In The Ice.

I was expecting to go against a lot of Token, Bant Company and BG Aristocrat Decks, but those were few and far between. Basically, anything running Green screwed me over, since it would either ramp into something huge I couldn't burn out or play Sylvan Advocate which gets too big for me to burn out or defend against. Plus, only running 2 Jaces left me a little underpowered. I feel that if I went with my original plan to play Stormchaser Mages, I would have done a little better, since I wasn't going up against a lot of flying creatures.

My deck:
Creatures
4 Thing in the Ice
3 Hangarback Walker
 
Instants
2 Fall of the Titans
2 Fiery Impulse
4 Fiery Temper
4 Lightning Axe
 
Legendary Artifacts
3 Pyromancer's Goggles
 
Legendary Creatures 
2 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
2 Jori En, Ruin Diver
 
Planeswalkers
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
 
Sorceries
3 Magmatic Insight
4 Tormenting Voice
 
Basic Lands
4 Island
8 Mountain
 
Lands
3 Drownyard Temple
3 Highland Lake
4 Shivan Reef
4 Wandering Fumarole

Sideboard: 
3 Fevered Visions
2 Dispel
2 Kozilek's Return
4 Negate
3 Rending Volley
1 Chandra, Flamecaller