The Internet is a vast ocean overflowing with information. On a daily basis, many knowledge-thirsty consumers traverse site after site searching for ways to improve their lives. Many companies big and small leverage that opportunity by offering free product education to their visitors. Much of this education is simply brand hype, but occasionally we stumble across something special–something designed to educate and inspire us first, and sell us second. That is exactly what the Flying Dog brewery did, and this is the story of how it inspired me to be a better beer drinker.

A little bit of back story

For those that weren’t at Icrontic’s 2009 EPIC, I was a knucklehead that brought a really cheap 12-pack of Natty Boh (Ed: National Bohemian), primarily to razz our friend Robert Hallock for being a bit of a beer snob. This came about as the result of a Twitter exchange in which I expressed my feeling that beer was the workingman’s drink and that fans of craft brewing were often pretentious because they chose to “over spend” on craft beers.

Robert holds a high preference for craft brew, so he and I went back and forth a bit, and I figured it would be fun to try and get him to swill a can of the cheap stuff at EPIC. Robert, being the gentleman he is, took down about half a can of what I now admit is not very good beer.

I did bring a couple cases of the good stuff, because that’s the right thing to do when invited to a man’s home for a few days, but I will go on record to say that my knowledge of craft brew was limited; Clipper City was the only micro brew regional to Maryland that I had much knowledge of.

Continue reading »

Clockwork Orange soundtrack

Hubert Sawyers III is a Detroit-area music blogger and champion for independent artists and music. His blog, FryinginVein, has been a source of discovery of great new music for several of us in the Icrontic community. We’re thrilled to have Hubert writing a guest post on IC Life!

On my personal blog, I like to highlight interesting displays of audio-visual combinations.  I call them AVGs (Audio/Visual Gems), which tend to be music videos or some sort of art-house project set to cool music.

Today, I want to explore an area that I do not get to explore enough—the AVGs that are in my personal collection, namely movies. Back in my college days, I began to get into what I came to know as independent films. All I knew was that these movies were a bit more edgy and had a higher intellectual value than the movies I used to watch as a kid. As I got into these kind of films, I realized how important the music was to making a scene work. Upon that recognition, I have been a fan of original soundtracks ever since.

These are movies that made me want the soundtrack as I watched the movie for the first time.  Another thing that is distinctive is that most of the music was completely new to me.  As a vinyl record collector, I have quite a few movie soundtrack LPs in my collection, but usually the movies stink (ie, Superfly).  My top 5 here are all in my personal movie collection as well (which I think says quite a lot about me.) Continue reading »

In this week’s Mind, Icrontic’s own Bobby Miller (UPSLynx) recaps the shenanigans of our third annual Oktoberfest celebrations. Brace yourself.

They came from Washington and Texas just for this hug

I found out about Icrontic from UPSLynx (Bobby Miller), and I must say that at first it was all a little strange to me. A group of people who met on the internet, I mean…how close could they all really be? I heard story after story about the great times that were had at ICHQ. I was told of all the shenanigans, and the about the fabulous beer, and even still I wasn’t sold.

I signed up for the website, in hopes of catching even a glimpse at what I had heard all about. I was intimidated at first, because the amount of things going on. There were multiple forums going, and to be honest I didn’t understand even a small percentage of what they were talking about. I have never really owned a PC—I have never really even gamed all that much. So, I thought, “well I guess this community isn’t really up my alley.” But, Bobby wasn’t ready to give up yet. He kept pushing me. He told me, “You just have to meet these guys, that’s all it will take.” So I started following a few people on Twitter here and there, and started to relate some of the stories I heard to individuals. Slowly but surely I was beginning to connect dots. But I was still struggling to relate with the things happening on Icrontic.

Then it happened: Bobby came up to me at work and insisted I take a weekend off for ICOK09. I knew it wouldn’t be easy to get a weekend off, but I said I would try. My request was denied at first, but in the closing weeks leading up to the event, things at work change and I was given my vacation time. It was really happening, I was about to experience first hand, what I had heard about in so many stories on so many different occasions. When departure day I came, I must admit I was a bit nervous at first. I really didn’t know what I would have in common with everyone (minus the beer of course).

Throughout the course of the weekend I took several opportunities to sit back and really watch what was going on, and what I saw caught me by surprise. This wasn’t just a “Web Community.” This was a FAMILY. I was truly touched by the way people interacted with each other, as though seeing a brother or sister they hadn’t seen in months. Watching the excitement on people’s faces as Technocrat walked up the drive was just mind-blowing. A lost brother had returned home, and it just doesn’t get any better than that. When the end of the weekend came and it was time to go home, I was really sad that I had to leave. I felt like I had become part of the family, after only one event. I think I even started referring to ICHQ as home towards the end…

The reason I take the time to write all of this is because Icrontic truly has something special here. Anyone can say they have a great web community, but Icrontic has proven itself to be more than that. Great things are happening here and it’s not because of sheer luck. It’s because of the amount of love that is put into what goes on in the world of Icrontic, both on the web and in the flesh.

In This Thread: Grimnoc weaves a sordid tale of friendship, lust, discipline, and betrayal… all over a lunch table and a bud vase with a GI Joe in it.

Read it »

If you follow sports closely you probably have observed the news about professional athletes and their penchant for social media, especially in the form of Twitter. Several famous athletes have taken a dive into the Twitter pool. Why not? Twitter is a fabulous self-promotion opportunity, plus it gives the athlete an opportunity to engage fans in a way that helps them preserve some level of sanity. Rather than the mad dash to sign hundreds of autographs, an exchanged tweet or two can be a fantastic way for athletes to connect with their admirers.

As can be expected of any new media where there are some positives, there are also some negatives. It starts with the news media, which has taken an overwhelmingly negative tone in regards to how athletes leverage Twitter. This is understandable given the fact that several athletes have, at times, used Twitter to air grievances with their respective leagues, teammates or opponents. Some have gone so far as to complain about the officiating while a game is in progress. Other times it gets used for a little pre-game smack talk.

Continue reading »

In this special edition Mind of UPSLynx, I sat down with Fatcat and Lincoln as they made their way from Missouri to ICHQ for the 2009 Icrontic Oktoberfest. We (tried to) discuss the upcoming event and what everyone should expect. What resulted was this video.

Did you just ask me if my father was a thief?

Even though there are approximately eleventy billion other guides and slideshows and videos that cover the topic, I am writing this brief guide. Why? Because you gents seem to want to make it so much more complicated than it is. It becomes a huge production; a Thing that you have to deal with, an Epic Quest–when really it should be more like ordering lunchmeat at a deli.

Yes, I did just allude that asking a woman out is both like a monetary transaction and like picking up something at a meat market. Was that wrong? Should I not have done that? But isn’t it basically a transaction?

You ask a woman out; but what she hears subconsciously is this: “I would like to barter an amount of time spent in your company for coffee/dinner/a movie/LARPing.” (Please, though, not that last one…) Continue reading »

For all the positives that the Internet has granted us–a sense of community, quick analysis, and broad access to information–it has also helped to encourage some altogether less positive traits.

Indeed, the Internet’s anonymity has emboldened trolls with an endless audience and a protected platform. Information overexposure has left people constantly enraged by or permanently desensitized to events. Technology’s growth has even resulted in a selfish sense of entitlement for many who expect amazing services to work perfectly when they didn’t even exist few years ago. Why is this happening, and what can we do about it?

Continue reading »

(ed. note: This article was originally written in 2003, and reflected the current state of Tequileria Corralejo at that time)

An aerial view of Guanajuato

Where does Tequila come from?

“From Mexico”, I hear you say–and that’s correct–but how do the Mexicans get the stuff? Well, that question is a little more difficult to answer–that they make it from a cactus is just one of the many myths surrounding Tequila. In April 2003, my wife participated in the 7th International Symposium on Applied Bioinorganic Chemistry (ISABC7) in the picturesque town of Guanajuato, Mexico, and I accompanied her for a photo trip. Continue reading »