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Nerdapalooza 2010

I went to Orlando over the weekend for Nerdapalooza 2010, and despite the fact that I had to go to Florida to get there, I had a total blast. The event was too content-rich for me to even attempt to describe it adequately, so I’ll just mention a couple of highlights here and also direct you to my photos and videos.

The pre-party at A Comic Shop
My hotel roomie and new favorite Texan Kira and I hit up the pre-party on Friday night, and had a blast. We had a crazy cabbie, piles of free beer and pizza, reunions with real life and Internet pals, and got to soak up sets from some excellent acts, including The Megas.

The on-stage guest appearances
This is the kind of thing that could only happen at a festival like this. We got to see STD perform with Mega Ran, Mega Ran perform with The Megas, both STD and Mega Ran with MC Frontalot, and Kabuto the Python with STD. And that’s what I managed to catch on camera; there were plenty more collaborations in the same vein.

The Protomen
They elevated the weekend from awesome to fucking incredible. Saturday was plagued by technical problems and other bullshit, so that by the time we reached the headliner slot, the show was four hours late. Then we found out Panther had been struck down with food poisoning and wouldn’t be going on at all. I was pretty sure there was going to be a nerd riot at that point, but the Protomen told us that not only would they take the stage anyway for a Panther-less half set, they were still going to do an entire show after MC Frontalot on Sunday night. The Saturday night mini-set ended up being completely epic — they used audience members and the sheer power of rock to make up for the lack of lead vocals and keyboard. The Sunday show, with the band at full strength, completely blew me away. I cannot wait to see them again.

Random hotel encounters
The whole event took place at one hotel, where nearly everyone was staying. This meant that the entire building was just one big nerd party. I ran into people I knew in the hallway, in the elevator, at the bar, all over the damn place. It had the effect of making what was a fairly large crowd feel intimate and connected, and also led to things like catching Turbo Lover playing the hotel piano one afternoon.

The room parties
Every night I was in Orlando, there was an afterparty in someone’s room that went on well into the wee hours. Sometimes it was our room, actually, because we had the foresight to pick up a ton of beer on Friday night after the pre-party. It turns out that drinking and hanging out with friends all night is more fun than sleeping.

The airport
A bunch of flights to NYC on Monday got cancelled or delayed, which meant that I ended up spending the day with folks at the airport in Orlando. What made this awesome instead of terrible was playing Mario Kart for a chunk of the afternoon with STD and two small trash-talking Welsh children. Oh, and the fact that they upgraded me to first class for my flight home.

So, yeah. Despite the fact that I hate heat and sun and flying and humidity and crowds, I went to a fucking nerd festival in Orlando in July and loved it. Who knew?

It’s so goddamn hot

It reached 103 degrees in New York City today, which is definitely not unheard of, but still entirely unpleasant. Fellow New Yorkers may wish to take advantage of my standard cooling strategy, to be employed when coming home to a 103-degree apartment at the end of a long, sweaty day.

1. Immediately upon entering disgustingly hot apartment: remove clothing, turn on air conditioner(s), place drinking glass in freezer.
2. Take a cold shower that’s long enough to give the air conditioner(s) time to start doing their thing.
3. Upon exiting shower, stand in front of air conditioner until dry, while simultaneously eating a popsicle.
4. Remove drinking glass from freezer, fill it with cold beverage of your choice. Drink beverage.
5. Collapse in a (slightly cooler) heap.

Destroy Babylon & God Save Queens

Sex Pistols tribute plus The Clash tribute at Brooklyn Bowl on 3 July 2010. I think I love Brooklyn Bowl almost as much as I love the Bell House. Also, the rock and roll fries are disgustingly good. (Think Brooklyn-style poutine.) Click the photos below to see my videos from the show.

Recommended

My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend
You may know Mike Birbiglia from the stories he has told on This American Life, or maybe from his previous show, Sleepwalk With Me. He’s funny, endearing, and utterly likable, and he’s touring again with a new show which I caught last night at Union Hall and enjoyed very much.

Brooklyn Public Library
In my small apartment, there are seven bookcases which are all filled to capacity. In an effort to stop acquiring more books, I’ve been getting everything from the library instead. Audiobooks for the subway, recommendations from friends, books I want to read before seeing the movie adaptations, even D&D supplements. I’m thinking I might just donate most of my books, actually. Then I don’t have to store them and I can still read them whenever I like!

Stila’s SPF 30 tinted moisturizer
I replaced both my moisturizer and my foundation with this marvelous goop about a year ago. It’s much lighter than foundation, and I no longer have the constant mild sunburn that used to make me look flushed (or slightly drunk). Maybe that’s less of a concern if you aren’t as pasty as I am, but it’s still pretty good stuff. I like pairing it with Urban Decay’s De-Slick pressed powder.

Crushed wasabi peas on vanilla ice cream
I first tried this at the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck, and I was a little afraid when I took the first bite. But it’s great!

Anais Hobo Bag from Brooklyn Industries
The key selling point for this bag, as far as I’m concerned, is that it has a billion pockets, both zipped and open. I’m a little bit crazy, and I need to have everything in my purse in its own pocket. It also isn’t a messenger bag, which is usually what I end up using when I can’t find a purse with a billion pockets.

The wine is not a lie!

As a followup to my previous whining wine post, I will direct your attention to the bottle which is now sitting on my desk. Thanks, Internet Week!

UnFancy Food Show

I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m in love with The Bell House, and not just because it was until yesterday connected to my apartment by the dearly departed B37 bus. I love the front lounge, I love the Secret Science Club, I love that they hosted the Paul F Tompkins show, I love that they have the peach version of Jeremiah Weed, I love everything about it.

I was there this weekend for the UnFancy Food Show, which was everything I hoped it could be, and more. I realized on my way to the venue that I had not eaten breakfast, but this turned out to be extremely fortuitous, as there was so much goddamn food there I wanted to try.

There were duck confiteroles from Confit Village, which were described to me as puff pastry sliders with duck confit, but which I will describe to you as delicious. There were McClure’s Pickles, People’s Pops, and bacon peanut brittle from The Redhead. All of this was good, but the highlights for me were the Duckwalk cupcake from Robicelli’s (“vanilla cake with blueberry port and mascarpone buttercream, and homemade blueberry port jam”), the spicy beef jerky from Gerald Jerky, and the chili cheese dog from the sidewalk vendor whose name I have shamefully forgotten.

If you live anywhere near Brooklyn, you have to make it to this show next year. I am giving you a quest to do so, and the reward is amazing food.