You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door.

September 1, 2009 2:02 PM

SLYTFilter: MC Frontalot - "It is Pitch Dark"
You are likely to be eaten by a grue. / If this predicament seems particularly cruel, / Consider whose fault it could be, / Not a torch or a match in your inventory.
Directed by MeFi's Own™ Jason Scott for his documentary about text adventures, GET LAMP. [previously] Featuring MC Frontalot [previously] and Steve Meretzky. More grues on MeFi.
posted by not_on_display (30 comments total)

Oh, MC Frontalot. I will never tire of your fronting.
posted by Nomiconic at 2:08 PM on September 1, 2009 [1 favorite]

Hello, sailor!

Uncanny, but I was just looking at walkthroughs for Zork I earlier today in a fit of nostalgia.

I have long thought, though, that Suspended was a truly fantastic game that I would love to see resurrected using modern technology--i.e., pictures. Basically, you were the caretaker of a complex futuristic city-system that was going horribly wrong, and you had to control robots to do your bidding--but robots that had only one sense. One could hear, one could see. Fantastic stuff.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 2:25 PM on September 1, 2009 [2 favorites]

Aren't grues known for eating not beating?
posted by tehdiplomat at 2:28 PM on September 1, 2009

"Oh, MC Frontalot. I will never tire of your fronting."

You sure? He seems to do it a lot.
posted by potch at 2:29 PM on September 1, 2009 [4 favorites]

Considering this video came out about 2 years ago, I can't believe it hasn't been posted here.
posted by mrnutty at 2:40 PM on September 1, 2009

I have to see to see this doc. I hope Adam Cadre's in it.
posted by broken wheelchair at 2:41 PM on September 1, 2009

I have to see to see this doc. I hope Adam Cadre's in it.

You are in luck.
posted by dfan at 3:19 PM on September 1, 2009

So I happened to open a bunch of Mefi links at once, like you do, and I had the title screen music from this playing in the background of the video the whole time. I never even noticed. It adds a certain extra atmosphere. Almost like you're in a dark tunnel. Without a match.
posted by lholladay at 3:29 PM on September 1, 2009 [1 favorite]

"Oh, MC Frontalot. I will never tire of your fronting."

You sure? He seems to do it a lot.

In fact, he fronts the most.
posted by axiom at 3:54 PM on September 1, 2009 [1 favorite]

You missed the best Metafilter comment ever, Grue or otherwise. No really, it's that amazing.
posted by The Michael The at 4:14 PM on September 1, 2009

Back in high school I participated in something called The Marathon of the Minds at Boston's Museum of Science. It involved teams from high schools (Quinobin RVTS represent!) competing against each other for 24 hours straight while we attempted to solve the Infocom game Trinity. Looking back, we were probably play testing it for them as there were several Infocom folks hanging out and chatting with us. They had what would eventually be the game's Invisiclues printed out on that green and white striped line printer paper and they would give us clues if we asked.

It was a great game and we got pretty far but around 3:00AM we started to get bored so a bunch us ran around in the empty parking garage causing trouble. It was a maze of twisty passaged, all alike. We stole a gallon of potato salad (they fed us) and launched it off the top floor of the garage. It left a 10 foot wide splatter on the parking lot below. It was amazing, like old school Letterman. I'm still proud.

Anyway, I'm not sure what my point is other than to say text adventures were a huge part of my high school years and I'm totally looking forward to this documentary. Thanks for this post.
posted by bondcliff at 4:27 PM on September 1, 2009 [1 favorite]

I always sorta sucked at Zork, but that dims my enthusiasm for this video and the forthcoming documentary not one iota. Yeah text adventures!
posted by DiscourseMarker at 4:40 PM on September 1, 2009

At Blizzcon we were finding a seat for one of the panels, and the slide they had on the screen announcing the panel inexplicably had Frontalot's name on it... in no context. I wondered about it through the hour-long WoWgasm and lo and behold, after the panel Frontalot got up on stage and did some songs.

It was like going to see District 9 and after the show having someone walk up and say, "Hey, there's a test screening of Evil Dead 4.... want to go?" Totally unexpected pleasure during an already great day.
posted by Huck500 at 5:28 PM on September 1, 2009 [1 favorite]

Thank you for reminding me of the Watergate comment, The Michael The. I loved that the first time I read it, and upon seeing it again just now, I laughed loud enough to get dirty looks.

Also, that video is pretty awesome. Hadn't seen it before.
posted by Alterscape at 5:41 PM on September 1, 2009

Holy crap! The Jason Scott vid of MC Frontalot has not been posted here before? Really?

Well, then, this is long overdue. If you haven't already, raid his free MP3s.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:46 PM on September 1, 2009

Amazing. Frontalot is always great. Saw him at Comic-Con last year at a G4 party and he brought the house DOWN.
posted by beelzebub at 5:46 PM on September 1, 2009

lholladay: "So I happened to open a bunch of Mefi links at once, like you do, and I had the title screen music from this playing in the background of the video the whole time. I never even noticed. It adds a certain extra atmosphere. Almost like you're in a dark tunnel. Without a match."

That is totally a sweet mashup. I highly recommend it.
posted by MrBobaFett at 5:57 PM on September 1, 2009

WHy does he dance so stupid?
posted by sharksandwich at 6:32 PM on September 1, 2009

Because dancing well is difficult?
posted by damehex at 7:17 PM on September 1, 2009

Dancing stupid well is harder than it looks.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:46 PM on September 1, 2009

Why does he dance so stupid?

a. He's in character.
b. He's doing a little something for the wall flowers.
posted by device55 at 7:49 PM on September 1, 2009

I saw Frontalot play in NYC a couple of years ago and was thoroughly impressed with how much fronting was done.
posted by secret about box at 8:04 PM on September 1, 2009

This is kind of interesting, since last night I was hacking up this music video into a larger, no-lip-syncing version of itself so that it could play on video screens during Frontalot's performance this weekend at the Penny Arcade Expo.

Glad people like the video - I am surprised it hadn't shown up on here since the documentary and Frontalot have both made appearances before. I've also been spending all my free time editing this movie, as well as scanning thousands of Infocom pages, memos and artifacts from Steve Meretzky's private collection. So it's been quite the busy time for me.

I'm not attending PAX this year, but say hi to Front for me.
posted by jscott at 8:51 PM on September 1, 2009 [2 favorites]

I met Frontalot this year at Comic Con - he didn't even blink when we asked him to sign a CD of his to our cats, and did random (and really not allowed!) booth performances through a loudhailer at times announced via Twitter. Much fun! I can't wait for his show at PAX this weekend.

> I'm not attending PAX this year, but say hi to Front for me.

Shall do. I might even share my Red Bull Cola with him. Or not. Probably not actually.
posted by saturnine at 12:30 AM on September 2, 2009

Front crashed with us (the Kingdom of Loathing crew) at our rented apartment at Comic-Con this year. He's a terrific dude, super-nice. He's been a regular act at our own KoLCon for the past few years, too. Always a great show.

It's always nice when some fame and recognition are given to the guys who really deserve it.
posted by rifflesby at 1:42 AM on September 2, 2009

The last year I worked Anime Boston was the year Sir Front came to play a show for us. One of our exec board members was his old friend, so we got a great deal, and I just fangirled the hell out of him. When I accosted him in the dealer's room, he smiled affably in recognition and told me that, as AB staff, I was getting a 2 for 1 deal on his CDs, no arguments (after I had cash out and waving in his face.) My real, official, reason for finding him was to lend him a hand, help him out with whatever he needed, and make sure that the con-tards weren't ruining his day, and you know what he did instead? He stuck up for each and every con attendee, insisted that he was having a good time, demanded that *I* go hydrate myself asap, and to be sure to come to his show or he would be personally insulted.

A gentleman of epic proportions, and the only reason I didn't flip out and burn down the convention center that final, insufferable year. If saturnine doesn't give him a Red Bull Cola this weekend, *I* will.
posted by Mizu at 1:44 AM on September 2, 2009 [1 favorite]

WHy does he dance so stupid?

Because no one is watching?
posted by loquacious at 3:01 AM on September 2, 2009

Kidding. Please don't write a song about me. /phear
posted by loquacious at 3:04 AM on September 2, 2009

Oh, while I'm here:

A collection of most of Infocom's advertising materials through the early 1980s.
posted by jscott at 11:29 PM on September 3, 2009 [2 favorites]

Hey neat timing, I just finished watching (OK I am lying, I am still wtching) this video of MC Frontalot talking about how he got so famous [trick: be a good graphic designer first, so you can make yourself goot t-shirts and websites] at the Ann Arbor District Library with MeFite (and lirbary assistant director) ulotrichous.
posted by jessamyn at 9:01 PM on September 7, 2009