Warm Today

It's been awhile, two months to be precise. I bet you completely forgot this newsletter existed. Well, I haven't forgotten. It's just been slow times here in GeekNights land. With all the warm weather we're much more interested in biking than podcasting. And with all the preparing for Connecticon and PAX AUS next month, podcasts aren't going to happen. Rym is actually going on a short trip this week, so it's the perfect time to fill the content gap with the return of the newsletter.

So the Grand Prix has had its ups and downs, but right now it is in the downs. The current game is one chance Galaga. Players can practice all they want, but then they have to play while I watch. That one game they play will be the one that counts. High score wins. It seems, though, that most players are not dedicated enough to bother with this round. It seems then that the players with the most desire to win the Grand Prix will win out even if their actual Galaga skills are low. Oh well. This experiment has been a great learning experience, and I'll see it through to the end.

To be honest with you, I had no idea who Team4Star was until two Connecticons ago. After the third time someone asked me "Where can I see Team4Star?" I figured out they were really popular. If I weren't staff at Connecticon, I would honestly have no idea who they were.

I've actually never watched more than a minute or two of their show, DBZ Abridged. I've watched one episode of the Yugi-Oh abridged, which I believe is done by someone else and not them. To be perfectly honest, I am not a fan of either series. That style of humor does not appeal to me at all. It is extremely immature and childish. From my perspective it appeals to that same mentality of people that enjoy things like Homestuck. There's something about nonsensical wackiness that really appeals to the modern teenager with no attention span. For whatever reason it just annoys the heck out of me. Then again, I'm just a cranky old man. What do I know?

As for the legality of what they do, I have no idea. I'm not a lawyer. I can see arguments that what they do is blatant copyright infringement, and also arguments that it is fair use. Really, I don't care if it is legal or not. Morally I think what they do is not only permissible, but awesome. The more remixing and sharing, the merrier. Even though I personally don't enjoy their work, my hat is off to them. They put a lot of hard work into making something that many people enjoy. Taking that work off YouTube would make it harder for those people to enjoying it, and the world would be slightly worse off as a result.

As for yelling at them at a convention, don't do that. I'm going to tell you something right now. The fact that you did something like yell at them is a strong indicator that you are "that guy." Stop being that guy right now. When you yell at strangers in public, people will not like you. Even if people agree with you, they will feel uncomfortable being near you. Just be chill. If you want to give someone like that a negative criticism, you should at least be able to discuss it calmly and rationally with them. At the end of the discussion everyone should be smiling and shaking hands and wishing each other well. 

As for CAD, we have been at the same convention as Tim Buckley many times in the past without any incident whatsoever. While we are not fans of his comic many other people are. He definitely has way more fans than we do. I'm sure those fans will very much enjoy getting a chance to meet him. I am glad, indeed proud, to have him as a guest of Connecticon as it makes our attendees happy and improves the convention as a whole. The more the merrier.

We just wrapped up the last book club on The Player of Games. It was pretty terrific. Go back and read it if you didn't already. Meanwhile, Rym is still picking out the next book club book. He really wants to pick something that I must say is quite stupid. If he picks it, I can't stop him. If he goes through with it, I hope everyone admonishes his poor choice to prove that I am right. I will feel stupid if everyone thinks it is a great choice. Now I'm worried people will say it is a great choice only to bother me. 

We've done a lot of podcasts since the last Newsletter went out. Here are some of our best episodes from that timespan you may have missed.

We've only uploaded a few videos in these past two months, but they are really top notch. We're trying to put quality ahead of quantity in our video work. Expect more soon.

Sunshowers and rainbows! There's a steady stream of typical forum activity going on. Usually the summertime heat results in a forum drought. Instead, people are remembering to come and share their beautiful summer experiences with each other. I refuse to get involved, but I bet a lot of you will want to join in the happy times of Animal Crossing for your 3DS.