Front would like to point out that the nation is struggling to improve its lot after a long stretch of everything seeming to get worse constantly. That's the spirit, America! And in that spirit, here's a freshly posted track: Front's ode to self-improvement, Better At Rapping, which he penned for the Child's Play CD near the end of last year, and which, along with that benefit CD, was perhaps overlooked in all the excitement. You can still purchase it if you like to help children. That's a thing you should spend ten dollars pretending you like to do, even if you don't, just to avoid suspicion.

You may also preclude allegations that you are not totally on top of the latest shit by having in your MP3 collection Shame Of The Otaku and Socks On, our most recent offerings from the Final Boss disc.

Next up: Florida and Southern California. Get yourselves some tickets to Nerdapalooza (Orlando, 7/11&12) and SDCC AfterCon (San Diego, 7/25).

Also: you like the achievements, but you need all the upgrades.

Massively fresh concert alert! Comic-Con San Diego, July 25th. MC Frontalot, Lars, yt, the Cyanide and Happiness kids, Doomtree, SMBC, and you (in attendance). Tickets are on sale at noon today. IT IS CALLED AFTERCON!! Also, it is a serious no-fucking-around big-ass deal of a nerdcore hip-hop show and animation fest, so if you're coming to SDCC, secure a concert ticket immediately.

Are we really discussing big-deal nerdcore concerts? The biggest one that could exist is in mid-July, in Orlando, and Front's fixing to fly.

Did anyone catch John Hodgman asking my man Barry Hussein if he's Nerdcore? If so, relive the magic (about 7:58 in). Thrill as Hodgman performs hard-hitting investigative work, face to face with his subject, demanding to know: does our nation's leader front at geekery? Scandal unfolds! See for yourself. We here at The Most Frontingest's Internet Home Base whole-heartedly endorse entire contents of video, which is why this paragraph is so long.

Oh, and since it's a Tube Party, here's some charming youngsters performing Goth Girls for you. Do you like that, "Tube Party?" That's what all the kids are saying these days, in reference to orgies of flash video consumption.

You might note that the latest album now has three songs posted in full. The new single is Shame Of The Otaku, and it tops the singles list. Will Shipley's favorite, Socks On, is also freshly available. That and Front's 30-second G4 spot (2600) are both under Commissions on the MP3 page.

Speaking of videos, here is MC Frontalot in a taxi, making a confession about a rock and roll computer adventure from long ago. Lawyers for the Levis corporation are advised that it is completely made up and never happened.

Don't forget about BFD on the 6th. MC Lars invites Front up for their duet, which will be a wonderful thing to behold. So come on by and behold it.

A July 27th Detroit show is in the works, to go along with the Ann Arbor gig! Stand by!

Dig this: four tracks from the MC Frontalot show at Pianos last month, posted and available to the public, top of the "Live" section, MP3 page. Featuring our man Schaffer The Darklord on that blog song. Join the VSP to get the whole set!

If you were listening to KoL radio a couple nights ago, you heard Front guesting there again, with Jick and Skully, just straight up chatting about stuff. For posterity, the MP3 is here.

Front rides filthily on up to Rhode Island tomorrow for a secret show in which he'll be helping MC Lars open up for Luda. What would happen if Luda met a couple of nerdcore rappers backstage? Stay tuned to the instantness and you'll find out. Wait! Why so secret? It's one of those closed-campus college show things. We suspect that the same goes for the Nas show on the 9th. Sigh!

BUT! You can catch Front backing up Lars on their track "Original Gamer" in NYC on May 6th, if you're quick with the tickets.

I don't like to talk about Quitting Smoking. It sounds so final, and it turns the inevitable backslide into a major failure event. But I do Stop Smoking from time to time, which lasts anywhere from a few weeks to three years. I am in process of stopping right now, in fact. Usually I stop by not smoking, which is a pretty okay way to do it. This time I'm trying to make it more interesting by gradually diminishing intake with the help of a couple D&D rules.

You can play too! Here's how.

1. Name your character. Mine's Breathorr Inflatagon, a level 2 Lung Elf. You don't have to roll up stats. If you're a real stickler for form, go get your lungs x-rayed. The x-ray film is your character sheet.

2. Keep a d20 in your pack of cigarettes. If it doesn't fit, keep die, lighter, and pack together in some kind of totable container. May I suggest a pouch?

3. Whenever you feel like smoking, that means the GM (you) is trying to poison your character (also you). Time for a saving throw! I decided the DC (Difficulty Class) for my save vs Poison is 15. Roll the d20. 15 and up: I am saved from that cigarette I wanted! Hooray? 14 and under: oh darn, I get to enjoy another satisfying and flavorful cancer treat.

4. If you make the save, you really can't have a cigarette. Rolls have to be at least an hour apart. If you haven't rolled for two hours, that does not mean you get to roll twice. Be strict, or the GM Regulatory Cabal will revoke your authority. (I assume? I haven't GM'd since like 1988.)

5. Every day of the campaign, your Wisdom increases slightly. You're using Will to save against Poison, so increased Wis modifies in your favor (well, in your character's favor — your GM prefers that the poison attacks land). I'm using a mod of +1 for each day, so on day two rolls of 14 and up are successful saves, on day three it's 13 and up, etc. Fifteen days into the campaign, I will only be allowed to smoke when I roll a natural 1.

6. Rolling a natural 1, of course, is a critical fail. Thus, no matter how wise I get, I will always be able to sneak a cigarette if I can roll a 1. But after fifteen days I'm going to limit myself to one poisoning attempt per day, instead of one per waking hour. The game logic behind this is: fuck you, I do what I want.

You can design your own system, of course. The DC of 15 and the minimum hour between rolls seemed suited to how much I was already smoking. If you go through two packs of Chesterfields a day you are probably not going to survive on so meager an allotment of poison.

I realize also that this system is nowhere near complicated enough for some gamers. Feel free to adapt much more sophisticated rulesets. Probably "internet" would be a good place to post them once you've got the kinks worked out.