PAX, the Penny Arcade Expo, happens this weekend in Seattle to counterbalance DragonCon on the East Coast. PAX is a major Gamer Con and festival put together by Penny Arcade (the WebComic), but more than that it is the premiere Nerdcore event each year. Nerdcore artists from all over North America converge on this event, and put on a show that has to be seen to be believed. I need to be there next year.
What is Nerdcore? Just like Steampunk is what happens when Goths discover Brown and the technology to develop it, Nerdcore is what happens when Computer Programmers discover Rap and record a video. These are a few good Nerdcore examples. But first, the explanation; which of Us are Nerds?
Pac-Man Paranoia is the name of the first song, by the Swedish band Bondage Fairies. This Giant Robot Kills follows it, the new MC Lars tune, from a Tweet by MC Frontalot. The next song is Galvanize the Empire; I got the link for that one in a tweet from @_mcchris. And then comes the theme song: Penny Arcade itself, where the lyrics give you the password. If you are a true classic gamer, you will have no problems recognizing the original MMO game, Zork, in the following song (You Might Get Eaten By A Gru).
If you are going to be at DragonCon this weekend, make sure to pick up your Dragon Con App for your iDevice, or for your Android. This is not the first App I have heard of built specifically for a Sci-Fi Con, but I don’t think SkepTrack counts, since it just a specialized App for a specific DragonCon track. And yes, the main App has full browse by track support, as well as the ability to break events out by day, time, people, and more. This may just be the new face of Sci-Fi Cons, and for a full list of all things digital at DragonCon just follow the link. Earlier Con Apps include the famous Tron App from this years SDCC. Also at DragonCon this year, BAR2D2, the droid that gets you drunk. It caries 15 kinds of beer and a variety of fixings, and is programmed to build 5,000 different mixed drinks when you put in your order via laptop; and yes, they are building an app for that so you don’t need the clunky laptop.
I just feel like watching some Anime Music Videos today, so I thought I would share a few good ones with everyone. I particularly liked the use of Code Monkey in an AMV.
It looks like the movie to hold the record so far for the most expensive Bollywood film is Enthiran: The Robot, due out at the end of September. It is even more interesting that this is a total Science Fiction story line, since India does so little Sci-Fi; their strong suit is definitely closer to the Fantasy field. The soundtrack CD for this movie has also done something unusual: two days after release, the album hit 1st place on the Top 10 World Albums chart on iTunes in the US, UK, and Australia, which no other Bollywood album has done. This one may just pull in enough money to make Bollywood reevaluate its stance on science fiction! And even if it doesn’t, I will be in the theater opening weekend.
Remember the movie Grindhouse in 2007? There was a trailer for a fake movie in that movie, but it isn’t anymore: Robert Rodriguez expanded that trailer into an entire movie, called Machete. It hits the theaters this Friday, and stars Danny Trejo, Robert DeNiro, Steven Seagal, Jeff Fahey, Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, Cheech Marin, and Don Johnson. Quite a cast for a made-up movie.
There arn’t any movies of note this week, although I did at least like the title of Brainjacked. For TV shows, one solid winner in FlashForward: The Complete Series, although the title might turn out to be a lie since Starz was looking to pick up the series some time ago. Also out this week, season one of The Vampire Diaries, which had that memorable photo shoot on a highway overpass in Georgia. I bet none of that footage will be in the DVD!
For Anime, the complete Black Blood Brothers series hits the shelves Tuesday, bringing the story of the Kowloon Children Wars home. For those who need a score card, the Red Bloods are the humans, and the Black Bloods are the vampires. Also, the Uncut version of Naruto Season 3 is being released. I fail to understand why they couldn’t just release the uncut version at the get-go, but I am betting it had something to do with selling the same episodes to the same people twice. And finally there is a Remastered version of Full Metal Panic: Season 1, one of my favorite Anime series. I have no clues as to what part ws actually remastered, but I figured I should mention it.
You can now watch Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind on Google Video for free. This 1984 Hayao Miyazaki masterpiece was made under another studios name, but it is acknowledged by most to be the true start of Studio Ghibli.
Just a taste to get you ready for the new Nick Frost project (and oh yeah, there were some other folks involved)… not to be confused with the original movie of that name…
If this was an Anime I would be so there; the style in this preview slips back and forth between dimensions, and it looks like there are murders to solve (or at least avoid becoming another victim). But this is the game Catherine, being released soon for the PS3 and XBox360. Either way, it looks like a fun world to hang out in.
Coming up on September 5th at Dragon Con is the Steampunk Exhibition, which looks like it will be a hoot with the best and the brightest of Steampunk engineers and artificers from around the world. On top of that, they are going for a Guinness world record for the largest Steampunk photograph (they better be using an authentic Steampunk photography system). And yes, Steampunk is what happens when Goths discover brown. Of course, there will be a gazillion other things going on at DragonCon, so you might want to consider attending next year (I am pretty sure this year, like most of the last decade, is completely sold out).
