Best of The Geek Whisperer (3 Year Blogiversary)
I can’t believe I’ve been doing this for three years (999 posts)! To celebrate, I skimmed through my archive for the first time in three years, and it brought back a lot of memories.
Join me on a brief and mildly narcissistic trip through some of my favorite blogging memories:
- Arguably my best post, at least from an academic perspective is Wonder Woman: The Super Secret & Kinky Origin of a Feminist Icon. Derived from a portion my undergraduate thesis, this post has been cited in a few academic papers, and according to my web analytics has been frequently referenced on some BDSM discussion boards. I am after-all here to educate and entertain.
- My most popular single day post dates back to April Fool’s Day 2010. I collaborated with a mystery designer to introduce the world to the iProbe; it’s still my favorite post.
- In one of TGW’s stranger episodes, guitar legend Peter Frampton stopped by to comment on a post after I berated him for a very disrespectful performance at The Stone Pony.
- When I first started The Geek Whisperer, I wanted to define the difference between geeks & nerds… But I found the task painfully difficult and subsequently spent two and a half years pondering the question before I wrote Geek vs. Nerd vs. Dork.
- And last but not least, I was (and still am) cited in a Wikipedia article on Firefly/ Serenity; my favorite scifi universe.
Never forget to practice safe computing.
Frampton’s Free Show at the Stone Pony
Peter Frampton performed a free concert at the Stone Pony last night to make up for his childish behavior at the Pony during his last tour. I’ve written as much as anyone about his colossal on-stage snafu, but I was unable to make it to the show last night. Life got in the way, and I decided that I wasn’t giving the guy my time… Which is also why this is a short post.
For more on last year’s debacle: Frampton @ The Stone Pony = FAIL
Peter Frampton Announces Free Apology Show at the Stone Pony
Last August Peter Frampton stormed off of the stage at the legendary Stone Pony leaving the audience surprised, confused, and angry. I was there, and wrote all about it.
Frampton @ The Stone Pony = Fail
He (or one of his PR hacks) even left a pseudo-apology on the post.
The experience left me and many other viewers disgusted at Frampton’s utter lack of professionalism.
Flash forward to this morning…
I was on the Stone Pony’s website looking up this Friday’s Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes show when I spotted this:
No less than two minutes later, commenter “Laura in NJ,” and fellow concert-goer burned by Frampton left a comment on my original post about the free show (she was looking up the same Southside Johnny show) (thanks for the tip Laura).
“Come see me play the longest show of my tour. This is the least I can do for you guys who were there last year and I can only hope you will come back. I can promise you this, it will be a fun, long night of music old and new!”
– Peter Frampton
I agree Pete (or PR hack); this is the least you can do. A Monday night show is pretty lame, but that date probably has more to do with the Stone Pony’s availability for free shows due to whiney performer screw-ups, than it does anything else.
Will I go?
I’m thinking about it.
I promised myself that I would never give Frampton a dime again. I can safely go to this show and not pay him… So I’m cool with the idea.
If August 9th rolls around; I have nothing else going on; and I have the motivation to trek all the way down to Asbury Park, I will go.
The little time he spent on stage was good, but I still think he’s a brat.
Frampton @ The Stone Pony = FAIL
The weather in Asbury Park was perfect. The company was great. The guitars were screaming. Peter Frampton was putting on a wonderful show… and then there were technical difficulties…
Wait, I am getting ahead of myself, let’s backtrack a few years. In 2005 I tried to see Mr. Frampton live. The show was canceled, and subsequently postponed to a time where I was out of town. Since then, I have tried to see him play each time he has come within 100 miles of me, and each time I have been unable to make it for one reason or another… In case you couldn’t tell, I’m a fan of Peter Frampton, and I have been waiting a long time to see him play.
So, the show was on, and Frampton was great; he’s a guitar playing monster. His attack on solos is vicious yet beautiful, and his stage presence is equally aggressive, yet dignified. His band was on, he was clearly having a blast, and it reflected in the quality of his music. He was playing a nice mix of old and new, fan favorites and obscure new songs for the real fans… That became clear when he mentioned playing material from his Fingerprints album, and the response was cheers and clapping from a small portion of the audience (for the record, I shouted loudly).
He played a slightly edgier rendition of Show Me the Way, and killed on the instrumental, Boot it Up. Then sent my mind wandering with a beautiful performance of Lines On My Face. My only real complaint was that the acoustics were too bassy, but that seems like a recurring issue at the Stone Pony (among many other venues).
They had my attention completely. I was entranced and enthralled, sucked into their music in a way that only the best performers can achieve. Then Frampton announced that he was going to do his instrumental cover of Soundgarden’s Black Hole Sun; I was so insanely happy. Every once in a while a band will play a song that you desperately want to hear, but don’t actually think they will play. This was one of those moments.
A few bars in, he suddenly stopped playing, and waved off the band. Something was wrong, but I honestly couldn’t tell what it was. The roadies were hard at work trying to fix his guitar rig while the audience watched a dark stage. After a while Frampton remarked, “Fucking computers!” and began playing an acoustic song (I can’t even remember what he played). After he finished, the stage went dark for a few minutes.
When he started playing again, one thing was clear; Peter Frampton was mad as hell. He played with a rage that is usually reserved for angsty teenagers. The rage served him well on Money, (I’ll Give You), where he swapped solos with guitarist Adam Lester; the back and fourth was wonderful. The rage wasn’t so great on Do You Feel Like We Do, but it’s such a classic anthem that no one cared.
After finishing Do You Feel Like We Do, he gave his guitar to his roadie and bolted off stage, never to return. The time was about 9:30, and he was scheduled to play until at least 10:15. He didn’t say a word to the audience about leaving. No “thank you.” No “I’m sorry that we had technical difficulties, I wish I could have given you more this evening.”
Nothing.
The man stormed off like a child. Worse still, it took about 15 minutes for anyone to step up to the mic and tell the audience that there would be no encore. I had already left because it was clear as day that the amps were off and the roadies were taking things apart, but I heard the announcement on the PA as I walked to my car.
Mr. Frampton, your audience did nothing wrong. There was no reason to act like a prima donna, and treat your fans with such disrespect. You are supposed to be a world class performer. You could have found a way to continue entertaining your fans, but you chose not to. You could have finished the show with a different set list, or done acoustic renditions of your songs. It wouldn’t have been the show you had planed, but it would have been memorable for being so different. Instead, I will remember this show because you were a selfish asshole (Example: Jordan Rudess after his keyboard broke during a Liquid Tension Experiment show in Chicago).
All you would have had to do was man up and apologize. I would have been disappointed, but I wouldn’t be pissed off.
Halo 3: ODST, Firefly & Guitar Hero 5
Halo 3: ODST
I just watched the newest trailer for Halo 3: ODST.
As I was watching, I kept feeling like the voice of the guy narrating was very familiar… then it hit me! It’s the voice of the coolest sci-fi hero since Han Solo; Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of the Serenity. Well, actually it’s actor Nathan Fillion, but you know what I mean. As the trailer progressed, I realized that they are also using his likeness.
Just to be sure that I was correct before blogging about it, I looked the game up on IMDB and saw that Fillion isn’t the only Firefly alum in the game. Alan Tudyk and Adam Baldwin, as well as Battlestar Galactica veteran Tricia Helfer all play prominent roles in the game. All they need now are a couple voices from Star Trek and Star Wars, and they will have geek “bingo.”
It’s worth watching this one in HD:
Browncoats (Firefly fans) everywhere will be able to follow the Captain into battle when Halo 3: ODST hits store shelves on 9/22/09.
What can I say… Browncoats are excitable, and I am a not ashamed to identify myself as one.
Guitar Hero 5
In other video game news, Activision Blizzard released the complete track list for Guitar Hero 5:
You can view the complete list on GameSpot.
Some of the songs that stand out to me at first glance include:
- Dire Straits – “Sultans of Swing”
- Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
- Queen & David Bowie – “Under Pressure” (coolest baseline ever) (Vanilla Ice sucks)
- Bob Dylan – “All Along the Watchtower”
- The Derek Trucks Band – “Young Funk” (Derek Trucks is the man)
- Gov’t Mule – “Streamline Woman”
- Iron Maiden – “2 Minutes to Midnight”
- Jeff Beck – “Scatterbrain (Live)”
- King Crimson – “21st Century Schizoid Man”
- Peter Frampton – “Do You Feel Like We Do? (Live)”
- The Rolling Stones – “Sympathy for the Devil”
- Santana – “No One to Depend On (Live)”
There are many more great ones, but those really stand out to me, and a lot of them surprise me a bit.
Guitar Hero 5 is due out on 9/1/09.
