Nerdgasm #18: GameBros WebSeries

Okay, confession time. And this is something that a lot of people don't really know about me. I feel like I've managed to keep it hidden really well, and for a long time. See the truth is...

...I'm not a gamer, whew. Glad I got that out there.

Much like my music knowledge, my video game knowledge stops somewhere around the Game Cube....Mario Kart Double Dash is my game. But while I may not game myself, so many of my friends do, and I've had the pleasure of sitting in on a game or two....or 100. Which is why I love this Nerdgasm so much.

This is the Game Bros Web Series brought to the world by Tim Ryder (@TimRyder on the Twitter) and Daniel Strauss (@DanielStrauss) who is associated with Team Starkid (for all of you Starkids out there).  The web series really delves into what it means to be a gamer as well as the places that being a gamer can take you. And it's hilarious, did I mention how funny it is?

Here is the trailer:

And one of my favorite episodes (Thus far):

So whether you game, or just know 100 people who do (just kidding, I definitely don't know 100 people period, let alone who game), I"m sure you'll find something in this web series to connect with. I sure did.

Also, make sure you follow Tim and Dan on all of the social media outlets:

Twitter: @DanielStrauss, @TimRyder, @GameBrosSeries

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Facebook

YouTube

And their official website

And make sure to follow us on:

Twitter: Andimatrainwrec (Katie), npalmerco08 (Nora)

Tumblr: Aaanndimatrainweck (official),  kahildreth (Katie), stillnuttypony (Nora)

And yes we did just re-read that and said, "Who let's us talk to people!"

Trainwreck's Adventure with Live Music: Part 1

I'm not sure if you've noticed this by now but Katie and I are quite friendly.........and by friendly, I of course mean that all of our thoughts happen outside of our heads as opposed to inside of our heads, like the rest of humanity. You know it's a problem when the guy selling t-shirts (etc) mocks your way of saying 'buttons', but we'll get to that.

So a few weeks ago, Katie and I went to the Alex Goot and Secondhand Serenade concert.....of course we'll be discussing neither of those bands. For more info on Alex and his friends, go check out this post (Side note, Alex is awesomely adorable and really easy to talk to; so go tweet at him. Side side note, Katie says to Chad "You were not at this concert but we apparently need to talk BMW..not the cars...the show...heard you're a big fan, let's discuss.)

We are, however, discussing two new (to us) bands that we saw that night and absolutely adored: The Role Call and Living in Pretend. As always, we'll start at the beginning. This will be a two part post, check in next week for our post on Living in Pretend; but in the meantime go follow them on Twitter/Facebook/Youtube @LivinginPretend.

We arrived at the Bottom Lounge, where the show was talking place, and we were greeted by the most adorable (and cold) looking boys. They introduced themselves as Steve (@SteveTRC on the Twitter) and Max (@MaxTRC), and they were in band called The Role Call (@TheRoleCallMN). For those of you who don't know,  The Role Call is a pop/rock band of five young (19-22ish) guys based out of Minneapolis, who occasionally travel to promote their band, which is what they were doing here.

Anyways, Max and Steve told us that they were going to be playing some acoustic songs from their EP after show and asked if we would stick around to see them play. We of course said yes, they handed us their card (Which had their phone number on it, which you can text and get actual responses from the boys) We stayed for a bit to chat before wondering into the venue. I mostly asked why they weren't wearing gloves, did they need gloves, and that I had gloves they could use. I was slightly concerned (It was cold! They were nice, it happens). They told us we were friendly and that they hoped to see us after the show. Which of course, they did. I again offered them gloves, it was really cold out, but Max (playing guitar) refused as it's hard to play with them and Steve refused out of solidarity. See? Adorable.

You're probably wondering (and by you, I mean Mike...and Katie's mom... Katie says "Two fans? YES!") about their music. We bought their EP & got them to sign it (Katie just just made this weird finger gun-clicking mouth noise "Who knows what that'll be worth some day" thing with her face and I just had to share it with you because it was odd....Katie stands by it, we'll have to photograph it one day and let you be the judge.). It's a really fun EP, and the fact that we heard it live with part of the band standing 18in from us just makes it all the better. I'm 99.9999% positive that the memory of Steve, Max, Katie, myself and a few others singing "Won't Get Down" as loud as we could to try and out-noise the screeching El train above us will stay with me forever.  But seriously, go get their EP. It's really great & at only five dollars, you really have no excuse. Seriously, my coffee at Starbucks costs more than their EP. If you like, All Time Low or The Maine or anything like that you will love them! Trust us!

I'm so glad Katie's sitting next to me because between the two of us, we've got one functioning memory (remember the designated remember-er?...we still need one). She reminded me that another of the reasons why we loved Steve and Max so much, and why we don't mind pimping their shit out ad nauseam is because they reminded us of...well us. See, we were about to leave, and Steve was at their car and suddenly yells "I HAVE THE BEST IDEA EVER!!!" Katie turns to Max and asks if this a good thing or a bad thing, Max replys "It really depends." I'm not sure about you but that interaction describes just about half of the conversations here at #Trainwreck Headquarters (yes, I did just name my basement #Trainwreck Headquarters).

Since meeting the band, we've texted back and forth, as well as participated in a #askTRC on twitter which not only broke their twitter but got us the answers to some burning questions. Questions like, what's your guilty pleasure show (For Steve, it's How I Met Your Mother) as well as what's your favorite 90's movie (Again, Steve responded with Gremlins). I know I feel, and Katie agrees, like we've really gotten to know them and all I'd say to them if they're ever back in Chicago is....you've definitely got at least one place to stay, all you have to do is ask.


Don't forget to follow them on all platforms of social media: (Seriously, all you have to do is click. We did the hard part for you.)
Twitter
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Facebook
Instagram
Youtube

Also make sure to follow us on:

Twitter: Andimatrainwrec (Katie), npalmerco08 (Nora)

Tumblr: Aaanndimatrainweck (official),  kahildreth (Katie), stillnuttypony (Nora)

And yes we did just re-read that and said, "Who let's us talk to people!"

Keychain Productions

So everyone knows I have a somewhat obsessive personality. Luckily, this obsessiveness only pertains to shows and nerdy things. (Imagine if it was people I knew. I would have no friends...Yeah there was a realization there. Anyhoo) This time my obsessive personality led me to something pretty cool.

Recently fellow co-writer Nora and I have been watching Primeval. It is a great British Sci-Fi series about holes in time and dinosaurs. Watch it. You won't regret it. So as we watch, we obviously become attached to specific characters. I actually became attached to this character before even watching the series because of Syfy's Alice. (Have you seen it? Oh my god! It is amazing! Hatter, that is all I can say.) Sorry that was my fan girl disease. Random bursts of excitement over shows. Back on track now. Well, I loved Hatter who is played by Andrew Lee Potts, (Pottsy as his friends call him) and he also played Connor Temple in Primeval. Every fan girl's next step after picking favorite character is to then internet stalk him. As I did this, I came across Keychain Productions. We have finally reached the topic of this post.

Keychain Productions is a company started by Andrew Lee Potts and friends in 2006. The team consists of Andrew, Tony Denman, and Alex Moss. Keychain is a fantastic company that has put out some amazing work.  Their aim is to "create original and compelling ideas and shoot them on near to no budget."  Keychain has produced a variety of shorts, from their first short 'Blood On Benefits' to their now most recent, 'Monitor'. They also have made some pretty funny comedy videos like iDance and a few music videos as well. Their latest music video was Neil Jackson's "Rocket to Mars." (I really liked that one.) They were also finalists at 2012’s Virgin Media Short Film Awards for their short ‘Little Larry.' (also loved that one)​

          

That is just their background. But the part of this group that I love the most is their motto: "If you have passion. Follow it." What better message can come from a group of artists?  I hope the people who view this blog pay attention to that statement. (So that would be my co-writer and our friend Mike. So pay attention guys) This is the time for us to do what we love. We have the time and energy to try anything now. We have the ability to just do what we love and see what it can bring to us and others. We might fail, but who cares? For a brief amount of time, we could spend hours working on something we are passionate about with people who feel the same. No job or amount of money will feel better than that. And who knows, it might work out, and then we could actually get paid to do what we want. I know, crazy right? The chances, especially since most of us are in the arts, are slim, but I repeat, who cares? Being in the arts is like a disease, we cannot help it. No matter how hard we try to do the logical, stable job, we can't, or we can't only do that job. In Andrew's Bio, he says, "He is addicted to filmmaking and is grateful there is no rehab!" And because of that love/addiction, Keychain has created some phenomenal work. So find some friends and do something you love. I promise it will be worth it and I keep my promises...usually.

And one more thing about Keychain productions, they are #trainwrecks like us. Just watch some of their vlogs. They just ramble on, dance, and say some of the dumbest but most hilarious things. In the vlogs, Andrew can never stop laughing, they go off topic all the time, and they seem to forget they are on camera sometimes. That kinda sounds like the ramble filled blog we put out. Most of the time we forget others can read this (not that they really do, but they can. The off topic thing though. I have no idea. That is crazy. Oh did anyone see the Supernatural Harlem Shake? Oh Jensen. It was his idea, you know!...Oh off topic...Got it now.)

Then each member on their own has a bit of trainwreck in them.  On Alex's bio he says, "He expects to go prematurely grey as a result of [his] role." Apparently, he is the calm in all of the crazy that is Andrew and Tony.  Then Tony likes "making music with wooden spoons, and re-enacting scenes from the latest Ben 10 or Sponge Bob Square Pants episodes with his 8 year old son Buster." If that is not adorable trainwreck behavior, I do not know what is. And Andrew is just over all, a bit of a spaz. To get the full scope of that please watch all the vlogs. You will see. It is hard to write about it. It is great though.

So that is Keychain Productions and we hope you check them out and DONATE! (Yes, more shameless plugs! Woohoo!) Just click the link, and there is a button on the bottom left that will let you donate. Everything they do, comes from support of their fans, and you can even donate by buying really awesome merchandise from their Little Links Shop. That is what we did. I am still waiting on the t-shirt I ordered, but it is coming from the UK so it takes a while. So please, again, check them out, and hopefully, you will like them as much as we did!


 Make to Follow us as well.

Twitter: Andimatrainwrec (Katie), npalmerco08 (Nora)

Tumblr: Aaanndimatrainweck (official),  kahildreth (Katie), stillnuttypony (Nora)

And yes we did just re-read that and said, "Who let's us talk to people!?

St. Patrick's Day Nerdgasm

We realize it is a bit early, but if we do this next monday, it will be too late. Besides who doesn't celebrate the entire week of St. Patrick's Day. It is way more fun that way.

This nerdgasm is for our Biology/Science nerds. You may have seen this video before, but we thought it was worth sharing.

 "The Biologist's St. Patrick's Day Song" Enjoy!

Make to Follow us as well.

Twitter: Andimatrainwrec (Katie), npalmerco08 (Nora)

Tumblr: Aaanndimatrainweck (official),  kahildreth (Katie), stillnuttypony (Nora)

And yes we did just re-read that and said, "Who let's us talk to people!?

The Trianwreck's Guide to Ignoring Winter

So, I went perusing online to try and find some ideas on how to make it through the rest of winter. I don't know about you, but I am kind of done with this whole "it's cold" thing. So, I read some articles and looked a few things up, but none of those things felt like they would help me. They were things like:

- Get sunlight in your bedroom as early as possible. (No, I like sleeping. Sunlight ruins one of my favorite activities. Not doing that. Next)

- Take a vitamin supplement. (I am sorry, but a vitamin is not going to make me warmer or feel like the outside of my house is not dreadful. Next)

-Take a trip somewhere warm (Yeah, I don't have the money to live out of my parents house and you think I have the money for a trip. Nope.)

- Exercise (Really? I don't even have a response for that.)

So all the suggestions just seemed to fail and some made me feel slightly angry. That was when I thought, I need to make my own list and help others like me. And hopefully get some comments from you guys on some more ideas. Here are my ideas for ignoring winter.


1. Wear your fun spring clothes. I mean when you leave the house bundle up like crazy, (No one wants pneumonia) but when you arrive at where ever you are going, ditch the parka and be in the fun spring dress with leggings.  Obviously, you're going to be inside where it is warm, so who needs to wear a heavy sweater. If you're cold, just grab a beer. You'll feel warm eventually.

2. Play all the music that reminds you of summer. If it is a song that make you want to drive around with your windows down, put it on a mix. Nothing transports you out of the frozen tundra like a good, warm feeling song. So as you walk to work in the frigid cold, you can imagine your somewhere else where the breeze is warm and you can actually feel your face.

3. Movie/TV Marathon of your favorite beach, summer films. Also, blast the heat in your apartment when you do. So then you can sit around in shorts and a tank top without feeling cold. This will provide the perfect sensation of summer. You'll be complaining that it is hot and just want a cold beer.

4. Throw a tiki or tropical themed party. Again blast the heat in your apartment. Then tell everyone to bring their summer clothes. You could have everyone in beach wear, drinking margaritas, and sitting on towels on your floor. There is no way you will remember that the weather man has predicted another snowstorm for tomorrow.

5. Indoor Games. Take your favorite outside games and try to create an indoor version. Once Nora and I got a bunch of friends and some nerf guns for some real fun. It gets you up and moving, and who thinks about winter when you are being ambushed by the team hiding behind the couch? No one, that's who!


Well I hope these helped and were better than some of the other suggestions out there. Hopefully once you have tried all of these solutions, it will be spring/summer and we won't need them anymore.


Make to Follow us as well.

Twitter: Andimatrainwrec (Katie), npalmerco08 (Nora)

Tumblr: Aaanndimatrainweck (official),  kahildreth (Katie), stillnuttypony (Nora)

And yes we did just re-read that and said, "Who let's us talk to people!?