I’ve been using the online bartering service, BarterBee, a while now and I thought I’d share my experiences. (In the interest of full disclosure, that link tells them that I sent you and I should get 5 points for each person that joins and requests an item. You get 5 points just for signing up.)

The way it works is that you sign up and list what Games, CDs and/or DVDs you have to trade. You assign a point value to each item and people use their points to buy them from you. When someone requests the item, you drop it into a Barterbee envelope, sans case, and send it off. When they get your item, you get your points.

Points, the currency of Barterbee, are worth about a dollar each. (In fact, you can actually buy points from Barterbee at that price-point. So I guess it’s exactly a dollar each.)

Thus far, my experience has been nothing but great. I’ve sold/traded off about 18 games and movies and have 4 more in transit. In every transaction I have received more value (i.e points/dollars) than I ever would have if I had I tried to sell the items to a used shop or via eBay. Sometimes as good as a 5-to-1 ratio. Often about 3.5 to 4 on PS2 games.

I’ve only requested DVDs so far. There’s a good selection of XBox games, but hardly any Xbox 360 games. No surprise there, though, the system is too new. There are also tons of games for other platforms. Even Atari 2600 games.

I haven’t used the service for Music CDs or PC/Mac games yet. I think LaLa.com, which Annette uses, may have cornered the market of the former. I plan to make use of Barterbee for the latter, whenever I can work up the energy to dig the games out of boxes.

Speaking of LaLa.com, Barterbee could learn a couple things from LaLa. I’ve watched Annette do the LaLa transactions a few times and it slighlty less cumbersome than BarterBee.

A couple of years ago, an irc buddy introduced me to the sound of some freak calling himself “mc chris”. It was awesome. This guy was talented and funny as hell. Best of all, he was rapping about geek stuff. Some time passed, and I realized I wanted more of this stuff. So, I started digging and realized there were a lot of artists similar to mc chris. It was a whole sub-sub-sub-genre of awesomness.

So, now I think it’s time to write something about nerdcore.

In the beginning there was nothing, not even time
No planets, no stars, no hip-hop, no rhyme
But then there was a bang, like the sound of my gat
The universe was born, and the shit was phat
>Biz Bizang - M.C. Hawking

Nerdcore. It’s what you get when you mix hip-hop, humor, talented geeks, the internet and the ease of making music with modern technology. While all nerdcore has those elements in common, there’s a ton of individuality in every artist I’ve heard so far. Their styles, topics and attitudes differ.

Don’t fuck with a geek, just cuz he got a gift.
You get in my way bitch you get a Vulcan neck pinch.
One night I didn’t go to sleep, up playin’ Risk.
At dawn, I won, got global dominance.
>Geek - mc chris

Some artists, like mc chris ( iTunes - Wikipedia - MySpace ), are probably more of an acquired taste than others. His lyrics are full of both geek self-deprecation and geek bravado. He raps about grades, role-playing games, weed, girls and jocks with a style that’s like a cartoon gangsta rapper. (The cartoon bit isn’t a stretch, he does voices for Cartoon Network.)

MC Hawking ( iTunes - Wikipedia - MySpace ) takes the parody to the next level, though. Imagine if Stephen Hawking, yes, that Stephen Hawking, was a hard-core gangsta rapper, delivering his rhymes via a synthesized voice from a wheelchair. Some folks might think this irreverent pardoy an affront to Hawking and his brilliance, but MC Hawking pokes no fun at the astronomer and, if anything, honors him. And it’s funny as hell.

Obey the moderator, create a state of calm,
Scan sentences and announce who’s wrong.
You are the troller, one week ban.
I know your other screen name, man.
>Obey The Moderator - Optimus Rhyme

Optimus Rhyme ( iTunes - Wikipedia - MySpace ) and MC Frontalot ( iTunes - Wikipedia - MySpace ) are great examples of clever artists that might be better stepping stones for anyone put off by the “gangsta-ness” of mc chris or MC Hawking. It’s also worth pointing out that Optimus Rhyme is the best nerdcore name in existence.

DangerDoom ( iTunes - Wikipedia - MySpace ) is a great place to start for fans of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, since their songs are filled with references and clips. (Notable is the fact that Adult Swim endorses them.) Aside from the cartoon clips, they also have a sound that’s probably more aligned with current hip-hop trends than anywne else.

The nerdcore could rise up, it could get elevated.
Oh and wouldn’t all of those tough rappers hate it,
If the nerdcore rose up and got elevated?
We consider the possibleness of this not overstated.
>Nerdcore Rising - MC Frontalot

The last artist I’m going to mention is MC Lars ( iTunes - Wikipedia - MySpace ). I mention him last because he’s probably the most successful currently as he has the style that’s probably the most palpable to the mainstream. He blends a poppy-punk sound with happy hip-hop and a very non-threatening, indie-rocker, frat-kid voice. Songs like “Download This Song” and “Hot Topic is Not Punk Rock” have even gotten airplay on commercial stations. None of this is to say his success is not deserved, the kid is talented and creative. In fact, he might be the best starting point for anyone looking into nerdcore.

The Berlin Wall fell and out we came,
the post-Cold War kids laid claim to AIM.
LOL, OMG, yo, BRB.
Space, colon, dash, closed parenthesis.
We sat at our laptops and typed away,
and found that we each had something to say.
Web-logged our fears, our hopes and dreams.
Individuated by digital means.
>iGeneration - MC Lars

And that’s the end of me pretending to be a music critic.

There are a bunch of other artists out there, if your interested in exploring it further. Let me know what you find. If you already have, and this whole nerdcore thing is old hat to you, then fuck you fold holdin’ out, jack. Who do you like?

AKA Lazy Geeky Sunday.

Leaving your Sunday alarm set for the horrid hour of 08:30 has one benefit, if you’re willing to resist turning it off and rolling over. After a couple of snoozes, I realized if I got up early I’d be able to get a lot more done today. Crazy theory, I know.

So shower n’ shave and head out the door, I go. After a trip to Pete’s to caffeinate, I realized I should have gotten dressed too. So, I rectified that and headed to the local Rasputin Music and Tower Records to hunt down an mc chris (more about him in an upcoming nerdcore post soon) record that iTunes doesn’t have. No luck, but no surprise either since it’s still sort of under ground (I guess? how does one tell in these days of the internets?) Did end up with a Dropkick Muprhy’s disc I didn’t have though. So, I decided I’d try CD Warehouse, across town.

On the way, I hit up my local comic shop, Little Shop of Heroes (best comic book shop name evah, btw) to pick up a couple of issues of a book I was missing which was preventing me from reading the series.

Then I swung by EB Games to peruse their used X-box game section. Having never owned an X-box, I find the plethora of games out there that I’ve never played to be a wondrous thing. All at very likeable prices, btw. Crimson Skies for $5? ysplskthx

I took a moment to cheer up the dude at the cash register who just got burtally lambasted by the previous customer over some stupid store policy matter. I cracked wise, in more ways than one. He laughed and so I felt like I did a good deed and I leapt into the batgeek-mobile and sped away.

I was on my way home when I pulled up next to a “Geek Squad” car. I don’t appreciate them frontin’ and perpetratin’ like they’re true geeks, so I whipped out the nine-mil and blasted ‘em O.G. style.

Then I picked up some beer, got home, ordered a pizza and called my mom. She says hi, by the way.

I checked my mail (bills and a thank you note from a guy named Bill), then my email, and hey look… some new chick wants to be my friend on MySpace. Don’t they all? Her name is Angel (of course it is) and she “just moved here from college (I dunno where that is) and a horrible relationship (awww)”. I look at the picture. I blink. I look at the rest. Holy shit, I think this chick is a real doll (realdoll.com (NSFW) for those not in the know). Decide for yourself. Look into those eyes, man. Nothin’ there.

Ok, now I need to wrap up some chores, see if I can’t fix a perl script for work, crack open another beer and maybe get a little 360 in before it’s time to hit WoW with the gang. Ok, another beer. Check. One out of four down.

This blog posted is based on a true story. Some events may have been exaggerated to enhance the drama.

Hey… I often hear the Sixx Mixx and certain other remixes on Live105 and think, “damn that’s cool.” Well, it wasn’t until today that I found out who’s responsible for at least SOME of that remix madness that’s so nifty. Check out Party Ben.

I know, all the cool kids probably already know about Party Ben, but whatever. I’m standing up for the uncool geeks n’ freaks. :P Or something to that effect.

Probot (Dave Grohl’s metal expedition) did a video with SG. It is the best music video ever. EVER. (If you don’t know SG, well.. you probably shouldn’t. If you DO know SG… well you know what the fuck I am talking about.) Go vote.

Ok, so that last one was a little more angry than I had originally planned… and I really must get back to work, so for this entry I leave you with some links to some music I’ve recentlys been enjoying. (The links are iTMS links, so if you don’t have iTunes.. they won’t work. (And wtf is wrong with you?! Loser.))

Shirley Bassey - The Remix Album… Diamonds Are Forever. - Shirley Bassey is like…THE voice of the classic Bond film themes. She sang Goldfinger, Diamonds are Forever, Moonraker… etc. This album has a bunch of her best songs, remixed by likes of Propellerheads and Mantronik. It’s very cool.

Richard Cheese - Lounge Against The Machine. - This album is friggin’ AWESOME. Unless you hate Lounge music… then you’ll think it sucks. It’s Lounge style remakes of a bunch of popular Rock songs. Songs like Limp Bizkit’s Nookie, Offspring’s Come Out and Play and Beastie Boys’ Fight for your Right.

Bond - Shine and Remixed. - When you first look at the cover of one of their albums, you think “Spice Girls” or something similar. You wouldn’t be the only one though… AMG says they were once hailed as the “Spice Girls of Classical music.” That’s right, Classical Music. Really, though… they’re more worldbeat like one of my other favorites, Afro-Celt Sound System, but with a stronger string sound. (And, um, prettier.)

That’s all for now.

This song is freaking AWESOME. Genius. I think Jonathan Coulton has really captured what it’s like to be an evil overlord in love. Er, I mean.. what it must be like. I mean, I surely wouldn’t know… ’cause I’m not an evil overlord. Honest. Well, I’m certainly not an overlord and you can’t prove otherwise.

I can’t stop listening to Flogging Molly. Gah! The Devil’s Dance Floor ownz0rz j00! A Guinness soaked body blow indeed!

Someone just introduced me to the mad lyrical stylings (heh) of mc chris.
Specifically, his song “geek” (lyrics) which kicks MUCH ass and is full of references that only a geek from the right generation would fully appreciate. Now I must go forth and find his CD “knowing is half the hassle”… which is a friggin’ brilliant reference. (If you don’t get it, don’t ask. You won’t think it’s cool.)

Of course, now if I were to ever become an MC… I’d have to change my name.

I keep listening to Johnny Cash’s rendition of the Nine Inch Nail’s song “Hurt.” Only The Man In Black could make a Trent Reznor song that much darker.

The video, which has been said to have reduced both Zackl De La Rocha (ex-RATM frontman, for those not up to date with their RATM history) and Trent Reznor to tears, was directed by Mark Romanek. It’s probably the most powerful and profound music music video I’ve ever seen. (Well, with the potential exception of Motley Crue’s “Girls, Girls, Girls.” That kind of late 80’s art & emotion is hard to top.) Johnny Cash may be old and sick these days, but he’s still the motherfuckin’ Man. And this video is a touching, realistic tribute to him.

If you care to, you can read more about the Hurt video here.