Once Upon a Geek

Viva Geeks!  It wasn’t too long ago that being a dork meant you weren’t cool. Oh how times have changed. A new generation of geeky entrepreneurs are setting the standards for business and the world we live in — they are the trendsetters. Being a geek is considered sexy nowadays (as the underwear above demonstrates).

In the spirit of trendy geeks, enjoy this geek-centric parody of Jay-Z’s “Empire State Of Mind.” Thanks to my old friend Butz for directing me to this.

If you can’t view the embedded video above, please click here.

Last August when John Hughes passed away, artist Cliff Chiang did a brilliant The Breakfast Club mash-up with the Teen Titans.  See below.

“Dear Batman: We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in Bat-detention for whatever it is we did wrong, but we think you’re crazy for making us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us: in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is an archer, and a speedster, and a swimmer, a princess, and an acrobat. Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, The Teen Titans.”

That is pure genius!  I think it’s especially funny that Aqualad is the whiny Anthony Michael Hall character!  You can find a few more superhero/80s album art mash-ups from Cliff Chiang on Comics Alliance.  My thanks to Ed for directing me to these images.

It’s been a while, but it’s time for more Ookla the Mok today!  If you still haven’t tried them, you are really missing out.  If you enjoy the kinds of things I post here, than you will love Ookla the Mok.  They bill themselves as “Rock Music for Nerds”.  Their lyrics are hysterical and speak directly to people like us.  I mean, c’mon, their name is taken from the 1980’s cartoon Thundarr the Barbarian for goodness sake.

Here is a song called “Super Powers”.  Below is a fan-made video, but I’m just providing that so you can hear the music.  Beneath the video you’ll find the lyrics.  Enjoy!

Super Powers

I got bitten by a radioactive bug
I tried an experimental drug
I went out for a stroll on a gamma testing range
I found an enchanted Uru cane
I made a serum that made me small
I modified the serum so it would make me tall
I got radioactive isotope in my eye
A dying alien helped me accessorize
I gained the proportionate strength of a spider
Now I’m invincible and I can fly
I lost my sight and my other senses were heightened
I’m gonna put on my pajamas and go fight crime
CHORUS:
Now I’m a super hero (now I am a)
I’m a super hero now (super hero)
Now I’m a super hero (I’m a super)
I got my super powers (hero now)
My best friend and my girlfriend (and her brother)
went into space
Who’da thought we’d get bombarded by cosmic rays
It turns out I’m the last of a powerful alien race
My mother formed me from a lump of magic clay
I’m given super powers by a yellow sun
I studied under the Ancient One
I got an adamantium skeleton
Some grizzled old wizard taught me a magic acronym
Now I got the wisdom of Solomon
And the Strength of Hercules
I have memorized what “AZAM” was
But I still fight evil in my red pajamas
CHORUS
I gotta get me a helicopter
And you can get a jet plane
We’ll take out their surveillance tower
We can make up code names
And when you get home at the end of your day
I’ll pack your parachute and put away
Your utility belt and gas grenades
You were never meant to see
I showed you my secret identity
I suppose that I could always hypnotize you
If I wanted to
But I propse another thing
You can wear my decoder ring
We can have matching hovercraft
We can go undercover
After all we might just fall like stars from the sky
You know too but I know you
you won’t be happy til you try
Super hero team-up
Cowboy secret space detective true love
Super villain two-in-one
The bad guys have taken over Washington
Don’t be scared cause I’m prepared
There’s an emergency but I’m ready
Cause fortunately I’m a super hero too
I got super powers just like you
Now I’m a super hero
Now I’m a super hero
Now I’m a super hero
I got my

Seriously, you gotta listen to these guys.  In addition to clever geek-related lyrics, their music is also enjoyable.  You can check out their website by clicking here.

Do I really need to say anything else?

Music is not a frequent topic here at ONCE UPON A GEEK, however, the artist known as “LIGHTS” is a fellow geek and her music is definitely worth talking about.  She is a 22 year old up-and-coming musician who describes herself as, “a fairly small-sized, Canadian girl who makes intergalactic-electro music”.  Her style is very much pop music, with a heavy influence from electronica (she calls her music “electro-pop”).  Typically pop music turns me off, but her stuff really grabbed me.

LIGHTS has a fair amount of geek cred.  She’s an avid gamer, particularly World of Warcraft, and a fan of science fiction.  She states that her look is inspired by Laura Croft and Wonder Woman.  Check out her web site for several issues of a sci-fi motion-comic called “Audio Quest: A Captain Lights Adventure“.   “Audio Quest” has aired on MTV and MTV.com.

I’d never heard of LIGHTS until a few weeks ago when someone from Warner Bros Records contacted me suggesting that as a fellow geek I might enjoy her music.  They were kind enough to send me her debut album, The Listening, which I’ve really enjoyed.  Again, I’m not a pop music kind of guy, but this stuff appeals to me.

The album immediately grabs you with the first track, “Savior”.  Without a doubt the strongest track on the album and one with real hit potential.  I’ve found myself humming the chorus all week.  I played this track for my wife and was surprised to see her tapping her toes unconsciously along with the music.  In addition to strong lyrics and vocals, it’s got some of that voice modulation that Cher popularized with “Believe” back in 1998.  The modulation give it that extra something that makes it that much cooler.  I love this song!  Demonstrating her geekiness, the video is heavily influenced by science fiction.  Check out the “Savior” music video below.


"Saviour" Music Video

LIGHTS | MySpace Video

If you can’t see the embedded video above, click here.

The entire album is enjoyable, however, a few other stand-out tracks include: Drive My Soul, Ice, and February Air.  LIGHTS should be applauded for cleverly working in the lyrics, “Ice, Ice, baby” into her song “Ice”.  This girl is cute, clever and cheeky!

One of the things that impressed me the most about LIGHTS is that she built her fan base by herself.  She isn’t some pre-fabricated pop star created by a major music label.  Her own online efforts are what built her popularity.  MySpace was one of her primary channels to get the word out about her music, along with her web site.  In 2008 she released her first EP for which she won the 2009 Juno (the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy Award) for New Artist of the Year.  Impressive!

The Listening is really enjoyable, amazing as a debut LP, and definitely worth your time.  Check out LIGHTS at iamlights.com.

With Halloween rapidly approaching, enjoy this ghost-themed beat-boxing to help you get in the mood.  Dude, he did it in 14 part harmony.  Wow!  Bustin’ makes me feel good!

If you can’t see the embedded video above, please click here.

Thanks to my buddy Adam for tipping me off about this musical ditty.

You ever have a lousy day at the office?  Just remember, it could be worse…

By Jonathan Coulton

The name ‘Ookla the Mok‘ may conjure images in your mind of Thundarr’s faithful sidekick.  However, it should make you think of great music!   I’ve posted here before about the band Ookla the Mok.  If you still haven’t tried them, you are really missing out.  If you enjoy the kinds of things I post here, than you will love Ookla the Mok.  They bill themselves as “Rock Music for Nerds”.  Their lyrics are hysterical and speak directly to people like us.  I mean, c’mon, their name is taken from the 1980’s cartoon Thundarr the Barbarian for goodness sake.

You can order their CDs from their website or through iTunes.  I personally recommend the album ‘Less than Art’.  It contains songs about Commander Riker (from ST:TNG), Aquaman, and many more that resonate with people like us.  Just one fantastic example is a song entitled, ‘View Master’.  It’s a song about people like us growing up and the things we loved as children being gone.  It has one of the great lyrics of all time, “All my Star Wars guys are gone except a headless Tusken Raider and the Carbon Frozen Han. And Boba’s still digesting in my sandbox Sarlacc pit.”  That’s hilarious!

Here are the full lyrics for ‘View Master’…

I turned on the TV set to check up on Battle of the Planets

At seven a.m. on Saturday

But G-Force and Mr. Magoo went the way of the New Zoo Revue

And all my Super Friends have gone away

Daphne, Fred and Velma, what am I to do?

You’ve gone and left me hanging out with Scooby-Dum and Scrappy-Doo

All the countless hours we spent

watching Jimmy Olsen, Lois, Perry and Clark Kent

I guess George Reeves wasn’t bulletproof after all

Oh Captain Kangaroo

they broke the Creepy Crawler Mold after they made you

And Mr. Moose ran out of ping-pong balls

My Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots have seen better days

And Mom just went and threw my Archie comics away

CHORUS:

I’m gonna cry if I can’t find my View Master

Etch-a-Sketch me a pretty picture

Go Speed Racer go a little faster

I could hear the voices of my childhood

When I traded in my Close and Play for a second-hand guitar

I was straining to hear, I was straining to reach them

But Stretch Armstrong couldn’t stretch that far

Slinkies and Slurpees and Crazy Straws

The Easter Bunny and Santa Claus

A Shogun Warrior, a Weeble, and Evel Knievel

I opened my blue toy box

and found a couple dead spiders and a pair of old socks

My Batman costume didn’t seem to fit

All my Star Wars guys are gone

except a headless Tusken Raider and the Carbon Frozen Han

And Boba’s still digesting in my sandbox Sarlacc pit

My NHL Slot Hockey is rusting underneath my bed

My Hungry Hungry Hippo’s starving, it’s been years since he was fed

I can’t believe it’s been so long

since I stayed up past my bedtime just to play a game of Pong

My Sit and Spin has got me in a whirl

Was it twenty years ago

that I’d get up once a week to watch the Krofft Supershow

With Electra Woman and Dynagirl?

I can hear the Sleestak pounding at my door

Since Puff the Magic Dragon ceased his mighty roar

CHORUS:

I’m gonna cry if I can’t find my View Master

Spirograph me a pretty picture

Go Speed Racer go a little faster

I could hear the voices of my childhood

When I traded in my Close and Play for a second-hand guitar

I was straining to hear, I was straining to reach them

But Stretch Armstrong couldn’t stretch that far

Seriously, you gotta listen to these guys.  In addition to clever geek-related lyrics, their music is also enjoyable.  You can check out their website by clicking here.

The first step is admitting you have a problem, right?  Hi, my name is the Irredeemable Shag and I’m addicted to a kid’s TV show.  I’m not talking about typical geek-accepted kids shows like, ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ or ‘Clone Wars’.  This is a full-on Disney kid’s show called Imagination Movers.   It’s part of their preschool programming block known as Playhouse Disney.

The show is about four musicians who run an “idea emergency” business out of a warehouse.  It has all the hallmarks of a kids show: musical numbers, thinking and teaching topics, cute puppet characters, etc.  I’ve seen dozens of these type shows over the years.  For some reason this one has captured my attention, especially the music. My whole family enjoys watching the show!  I even downloaded some of their songs to my iPod for the kids.  Really catchy tunes!  No, I don’t listen to the songs when I’m alone … at least not yet.

For me the Imagination Movers is a modern-day Monkees, but targeted at preschool kids.  One site described the show as, “What would happen if the Beastie Boys collaborated with Mr. Rogers?”  Now that’s not completely fair as only a few of their songs involve rap, most are up-beat rock type songs.  Each “mover” has their own quirks and props, they perform catchy musical numbers, they have adventures, and the show is fun in general.  I assumed that Disney had taken some musical guys, thrown them together, and created a show around it.  However, on Wikipedia it says these guys have actually been together since 2003, came from New Orleans, and have been performing stage shows for years.  They only signed with Disney in the last year or so.  It’s really amazing that they came up with these concepts themselves and put together such a great product!

If you’re a parent of a young child, I definitely recommend you check out the show.  If you’re not a parent, it may not be your thing, but you may still enjoy watching it with your nieces or nephews.  Me, I’m a lost cause.  I’m an addict.  I may have to turn in my “Geek Card”.

You can check out the Imagination Movers on their own website by clicking here, or on the Disney website by clicking here.

Fun video about people like us.