Where nerd is never a bad word.
What's your nerd cred?
It's a question I always ask the good folks I sit down with. It's fascinating to find out how people got on the path of the nerd, geek, oddball, weirdo, eccentric... Call us whatever derogatory terms make you feel better, we've embraced our heritage and come to know that nerds now rule the world. From the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, to the mainstream status of video games, nerds make money, and the things they love generate money. It's really nothing to be ashamed of at this point, but yet we remain... "nerds" ...and that's alright with me!
So why start a podcast? Well I love being a nerd, and I love talking about it. Some would say I like to live in the past, and while that's certainly true, there's plenty to be geeked about today as well. So I talk about it with friends, through reminisces of the past to freaking out about the latest geekdom. But it all comes down to that basic question, what's your nerd cred?
For me, it all started in 1977 when my Dad brought home the very first cartridge-based video game system, the Fairchild Channel F. I became obsessed with improving my skills and beating that latest score. That certainly started me on the path of a gamer. From there I moved on to the Atari 2600, and then NES. Once I received that NES in 1987, I really went from casual to hardcore gamer, which would ultimately lead to a job that I look back on fondly, as an Editor at Electronic Gaming Monthly Magazine. Obsessed not only with games, but collecting their soundtracks, I later began Gaming FM, a video game radio station which ran for 5 years. I currently run Radd Repro, Retro ROM-hacked Reproductions, where I build cartridges of retro games that never existed! Games weren't my only hobby however, in between gaming sessions I would lose myself in my other obsession, cartoons.
Cartoons are a HUGE part of who I've become, from the Classics by Tex Avery at MGM, to the Looney Tunes at Warner Bros., Tom & Jerry by Will Hanna and Joe Barbera, and Walter Lantz' Woody Woodpecker. By the 80's the more action-oriented stuff appeared, which taught me about characterization and story structure. From the cheese-fest that is Filmation's He-Man to Rankin Bass' Thundercats, which finally led to Sunbow and Marvel's The Transformers, my first true geek out. The world was different back then, no internet and ten or so TV stations. You we're forced to appreciate things you may have missed in the modern age of internets and YouTube, and these things, like them or not, shape who you are.
When I think of a nerd, these are the things that come to mind: Star Trek, Doctor Who, Star Wars, Monty Python, Comic Books, table-top role-playing games, anime and video games. Not just a love of these things, but an intricate knowledge of all these things. That's a nerd in my mind. All I've really done is describe myself. I've done 'em all and I love 'em all! Meeting someone else like-minded to me is a sign of a very special, intellectual person, who I'd like to get to know better. THAT'S why you start a podcast, and THAT'S my nerd cred.
So what's yours?
Host: Ray "Radd" Price (podcast@radd.tv)
@raddp
Opening theme: "The Catchy Podcast Theme"
Music and Vocals: Kristin Young
Mixed by: Sean Gort (Gort Audio Productions)
Special thanks to: Tom Tolios