Episode 50: Stranger Things 2

Episode 50: Stranger Things 2
Produced by Relevant to Our Interests
Scripting by Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Edited by: Frank Shaw
Graphic Design by: Nathan Newell
Intro Music: Morning Activities by F.G. Shaw
Outro Music: Morning Activities by F.G. Shaw

It's Stranger Things 2!

John and myself talk about Stranger Things 2, we mostly liked it! It's not without it's problems. 
But even despite episode 7, this season is pretty awesome, and fixes a lot (though not all) of the problems we had with the first season. 

The thing that excites me the most is the Lovecraftian horror that informs the monsters of this series. I throughout the name Nyarlathotep in this podcast, the Nerdist suggests it as inspiration as well. Now is it Nyarlathotep? I'm with John -though I think the idea is cool- it would be better, and cooler if the Duffer brothers are only inspired by the Lovecraftian monstrousity and not stealing whole cloth from it. 

We do talk about a few insane fan theories a bit, (my favorite is still that the "Mindflayer" is Barb taking revenge on the town) the only theory that has any traction is the theory that the Upside Down is somehow in another time.  It's a fun theory. 

We are both looking forward to season 3. 

Episode 49: Wonder Woman!

Episode 49: Wonder Woman!
Produced by Relevant to Our Interests
Scripting by Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Edited by: Frank Shaw
Graphic Design by: Nathan Newell
Intro Music: Morning Activities by F.G. Shaw
Outro Music: Morning Activities by F.G. Shaw

Forever behind, and never ahead. Episode 49 John and I talk about Wonder Woman. This movie was surprisingly good, and honestly if it could be pulled out of the greater DC Universe and stand on it's own two legs it would be even better. The DC Universe is suffering, and all reports that peoples attitude on Justice League are mixed. Wonder Woman suffers for being tied to the overarching DC Universe. It's too bad, because Gal Godot makes a fantastic Diana. I'm not sure what Warner Brothers is going to do with their franchise, but if the Justice League's performance is any indication, things do not bode well for the future of DC. I've seen rumors thrown around, but until I see something solid all I can do is speculate. At least their television franchises are fun. 

Here is a link to the one of the bigger insane fan theories. It's a fun little Reddit thread. It's fun to speculate. 

Episode 48: Video Games and more!

Episode 48: Video Games and more!
Produced by Relevant to Our Interests
Scripting by Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Edited by: Frank Shaw
Graphic Design by: Nathan Newell
Intro Music: Morning Activities by F.G. Shaw
Outro Music: Morning Activities by F.G. Shaw

Better late than never!

Our single October episode this year was dedicated mostly to video games. While mentioned frequently on the show (mostly by myself), John get's in on the act this time as well. 

First off! The Creep Farm at the Bluebell Corn Maze. Now a tiny bit of background: the corn maze is in a small "town" called Bluebell at Water Hallow Ranch. The maze opens up mid September, and goes till the end of October. The haunted part is called the Creep Farm and it is open the last few weekends of October at dark. Now the maze is a lot of fun, if you're in Utah or in a nearby state, you should try and check it next fall. Come on the weekend, make it a day trip. It's great family fun, and worth a visit. Doing the corn maze ate up a lot more time and energy than I anticipated. Between it and the regular 9 - 5, I suddenly found myself with out even minimal time to prepare for each episode, let alone getting it edited and out in a timely fashion. We're back to form though and will be back to the weekly schedule until Christmas. 

Then we have the Viking exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Utah. I personally can't speak about it much (yet) as I haven't attended. John however has and has loved it. I'm excited to see it, and should be heading out at some point this December. 

Now for actual video games: 

So I won a digital copy of The Evil Within 2, as well as some other cool things. I have been playing it and am much further along now than I was during the episode. It's a lot of fun. Sort of a Resident Evil 4 meets Silent Hill 2 vibe. Definitely check it out if you're a fan of survival horror. Prove EA wrong about single player games going away. 

John then dives in about the Forced Unleashed 1 and 2. Fairly middling games (well 1 is) that have some camera issues. The (now) non-canon games help amplify John's problems with the Star Wars universe, that will eventually be address in a John Hates What You Love. 

Frank talks about the Playstation TV. For those that don't know, it's essentially PS Vita put into a mini console form. It's limited to what games it can play, due to the Vita's touch pad and touch screen. However if you're a JRPG fan like I am, and you want to experience an inexpensive way to play the ones that came out on the Vita, it's a good way to go. 

Next John discusses Cuphead. For those that don't know Cuphead is a retro-style run and gun game that released during the end of September and is known for being difficult. John lauds the game, and if you dig the retro style games, it's probably for you. 

Frank then asks for recommendations: Table top war games based around World War One. He's found a few potential candidates, but if you have any that you'd like to share, please do. 

John finishes off this episode by talking about his dream girl (literally), and Duck Tales. I have a feeling that Duck Tales will be the focus of a later episode. So stay tuned. 

And as always... John's Bad Advice. I've decided to start sharing the questions so here we are:

"How do I get Olivia to stop throwing things out of frustrating?"

-Tiffany T

"I'm enrolling in a master's program. How can I focus on my studies and what's the best way to reward myself for studying?"

Sherry S

"I'm thinking of shaving my head. Hair is so annoying. What do you think?"

Mary S

Episode 47: Laika Studios and Kubo and the 2 Strings.

Episode 47: Laika Studios and Kubo and the 2 Strings. 
Hosts: Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Produced by Relevant to Our Interests
Scripting by Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Edited by: Frank Shaw
Graphic Design by: Nathan Newell
Koto sound bite from RTB45 on www.freesound.org from this clip.
Intro Music: Morning Activities by F.G. Shaw
Outro Music: Morning Activities by F.G. Shaw


There isn't a lot to talk about outside the episode this week. We both love the movie, and it shows. I myself love stop motion and I honestly wish there were more studios able to do this. Laika does amazing work and I'm very excited for what they have coming down the pipe. There's likely to be reviews of their other films on the podcast, probably this coming winter. Here's a link to Laika's website. 

There will be no episode this week. I need to do some needed winter prep work as well as focus on a couple of projects that are sadly unrelated to Relevant to Our Interests. In a couple weeks however we will be back talking about Wonder Woman! Next week it's a What's Interesting!

Episode 46: What's Interesting, SLCC17, Monsterhedz, and more

Episode 46: What's Interesting, SLCC17, Monsterhedz, and more!
Hosts: Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Produced by Relevant to Our Interests
Scripting by Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Edited by: Frank Shaw
Graphic Design by: Nathan Newell
Intro Music: Morning Activities by F.G. Shaw
Outro Music: Morning Activities by F.G. Shaw

We covered a lot of stuff in this episode. Some of it briefly, some of it more in depth. So let's dive in!

John, through luck and amazing friends, has been to every Salt Lake City Comic Con and FanX since the first one in 2013. It's nine different events that he's been able to attend, and he's enjoyed himself every time. I have only been to one, unfortunately, but hey, there's always next year! To see some of the stuff that happened this year at SLCC17, just follow the link. It's an amazingly big convention, especially for such a small state, and it outranks a lot of similar conventions in a lot bigger areas. 

Of course one of the big things about SLCC17 for John was getting to pick up some more MonsterHedz art from our friend Ronnie Hansen. I've known Ronnie for years and I can tell you that he's one hell of a nice guy and he puts a tremendous amount of passion and work into everything he does. Check out his website, and for up to date info, the Facebook Page here. 

John's Orklings and Cyclopslings from MonsterHedz.

Next China Mieville: All things aside (if you know anything about him) China Mieville's worlds - specifically New Crobuzon - are amazing. I'm not going to go into any great depth here. I have a feeling that we will soon be putting Perdido Street Station on the calendar and dedicate a full episode to it. Here's an article from the AV Club as sort of a Mieville primer if you will. 

Finally, very briefly. 'Allo 'Allo is on Netflix, go watch it. John has, and I will be very soon. 

Magic the Gathering's next set, well here's their website go check it out. 

Here's some updates to the Disney/Netflix goings on. 

And, if you're in Utah, come out to the Bluebell Corn Maze and visit the Creep Farm. It's fun, and you'll get to meet me!

And finally here's John's Patreon page. Take a look at his Food Reviews too!

Episode 45: What's Interesting, Nintendo, Wyoming, Youtube Cooking, Emmy Elitism

Episode 45: What's Interesting, Nintendo, Wyoming, Youtube Cooking, Emmy Elitism
Hosts: Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Produced by Relevant to Our Interests
Scripting by Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Edited by: Frank Shaw
Graphic Design by: Nathan Newell
Intro Music: Morning Activities by F.G. Shaw
Outro Music: Morning Activities by F.G. Shaw

It's the weekend, and it's time for some show notes:

First up, it only makes sense to link to the Nintendo Direct. Most of the things that Frank talks about come directly from that. It's only a few days from today, on September 27th 2017, that the SNES Classic releases. John isn't very interested, but Frank is hoping to pick one up this fall, if the availability is there.

Next up: Wyoming! Frank is a history fan, and has an increasing interest in an American History and Wyoming is just oozing it. The state may be the smallest in population, but that only helps it in many ways feel like a place you could still see cowboys, or Native Americans existing as they did 150 years ago. If you find yourself near Worland Wyoming go check out the Washakie Museum. It, like a lot of small regional museums, has a lot of info about both the prehistoric and the near historic past of the region. It's worth a visit, and you can easily spend a few hours there taking in all the displays and activities. Also, if you're near Worland, then you're not far from Thermopolis and the hot springs near by. Go take a soak. For 20 minutes you can soak and relax for free ($1.00 if you need a towel) and it's definitely worth the time.

As for YouTube and John! It's unusual for John to talk about the virtues of YouTube, something Frank won't stop talking about (or watching). John talks about Alex French Guy Cooking. The guys amazingly watchable, and worth checking out, especially if you like cooking shows. John's other current YouTube obsession is Binging with Babish. Some how the guy is able to make the food from TV, movies and cartoons (a lot of cartoons) look amazingly delicious. You'll lose hours watching both of these guys.

John discusses a bit about the dismissal of other peoples experience. There's no links to articles about that part of the conversation, but it does lead to (both here and in the episode) talking about the elitism of the Emmy's. Or more accurately the elitism of the viewers of Emmy nominated shows. There are shows out there that have been nominated that are definitely worth watching. I watch them, but I'm looking for a very different experience when I watch Breaking Bad or Master of None than I do when I watch something like King of Queens or the Big Bang Theory. There's a lot of smart, intelligent television out there that is full of philosophical and social commentary. And a lot of it is too much for a person that's put in an 8 or 10 or even 12 hour day at a job that requires them to be on their feet, or interact with the public, or is physically demanding or any combination of those three things. Having worked (and still do work) those types of jobs, you don't want to be emotionally assaulted at the end of your day by your entertainment. So yes, we will probably watch some of the winners of this years Emmy's. But by no means we will watch all of them. And even more importantly nobody should expect us, or anybody really, to put in the effort to be entertained by something that we simply don't find entertaining. But that being said, here are the nominees and winners of the 2017 Emmy Awards.  And here is the AVclub poll about the Emmy's 

Episode 44: John Hates What You Love: The Defenders (with a bonus cut track!)

Episode 44: John Hates What You Love: The Defenders
Hosts: Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Produced by Relevant to Our Interests
Scripting by Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Edited by: Frank Shaw
Graphic Design by: Nathan Newell
Intro Music: Morning Activities by F.G. Shaw
Outro Music: Morning Activities by F.G. Shaw

John levels some pretty hard criticism towards Netflix/Marvel's The Defenders. There's no links in this weeks show notes, but there is a clarification, or a reiteration if you will: We didn't actually hate The Defenders. I know the title is provocative, and often times John has a genuine dislike for things that fall under this heading, though not always (see our episode on Nightmare Before Christmas). This is one of those instances. We both actually liked the Defenders, but there was a weakness to the series that put into focus all the other problems it had: Iron Fist. 

Which brings us to this: in order to keep the show at between 40 minutes to an hour long I have to cut conversation out of each episode. Usually it's wild tangents, or interruptions to the recording that can't always be avoided. It's the nature of our podcast and how we currently have the production set up, being so far apart and struggling with separate recordings. Now and then something that isn't integral to the conversation but still adds to it has to be cut. This is one of those instances. About 5 1/2 minutes were cut out of this episode that just rehashed some of our thoughts on Iron Fist. I'm presenting it here for those that are curious. 

Episode 43: Emoji, Gencon, Deathspank, Darkmatter.

Episode 43: WI: Emoji, Gencon, Deathspank, Darkmatter
Hosts: Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Produced by Relevant to Our Interests
Scripting by Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Edited by: Frank Shaw
Graphic Design by: Nathan Newell
Intro Music: Morning Activities by F.G. Shaw
Outro Music: Morning Activities by F.G. Shaw


Fun conversation this past week:

First up, Drive-Ins, I'm not a huge fan of drive-ins, but a lot of people like them in the US. They are a slowly dying tradition, for good or bad. There are only 338 drive-ins left in the US. If you want to give one a try and perhaps experience a movie the way your parents or grandparents may have during the summer, just follow this link for a list, or this one for a map.  If you do decide to go, make sure you pack some snacks (though there will be some available at the drive in, be prepared to start your car once or twice and let it idle to prevent the battery from dying (most use short wave radio station to transmit the audio) and don't turn your lights on during the movie, it's rude and inconsiderate. 

As for the Emoji movie: Rotten Tomatoes and Meta-Critic have everything you'll want to hear about it, in addition to this episode of the podcast of course.

Now for the boardgames and Starfinder from Gencon 2017: Here's an Ars Technica article detailing the games mentioned. There's not a lot of reviews yet, but here are a few. 
Here's the Dice Tower Review for Ex-Libris. Here's The GameBoyGeek's review on Ex-Libris. 
Here's the Dice Tower Review for Rising Sun.
And here's the link to the Starfinder main page and the Online Rules Document. Both John and I are excited for this, though finding time to read it, let alone play it, will be challenging, but if you like table-top RPG's, crazy Sword and Spaceships stories, then Starfinder may be right up your alley.

The Deathspank trilogy is one that slipped by me. Having John talk about them during this episode has piqued my interest though. Here's a link to it on Steam, at least the first game.

Finally Darkmatter. I haven't hopped on the Darkmatter Train yet, but it's been cancelled. There is a campaign to get it picked up by another network here. But regardless check it out on Netflix.

Finally if you'd like to submit a question for John's Bad Advice do so at relevant2rinterests@gmail.com or on our facebook page www.facebook.com/relevant2rinterest or on twitter @r2interests

Episode 42: Frank Loves What You Hate: Valerian

Episode 42: Frank Loves What You Hate: Valerian
Hosts: Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Produced by Relevant to Our Interests
Scripting by Frank Shaw
Edited by: Frank Shaw
Graphic Design by: Nathan Newell
Intro Music: Morning Activities by F.G. Shaw
Outro Music: Morning Activities by F.G. Shaw

Not a lot of notes with this one. There is this article out in Variety today detailing how Edouard de Vesinne, who the deputy CEO of EuropaCorp was removed from that position due to the failure of the film. That's honestly a bit disappointing to me, but it's not particularly surprising given the performance of the film. It is doing ok in China, but that's not likely going to save it as a franchise at this point. 
Hopefully we'll continue to see the collected works be published despite the films performance. 

Episode 41: WI: Disney, Netflix and Cannibals OH MY!

Episode 41: WI: Disney, Netflix and Cannibals OH MY
Hosts: Frank Shaw
Produced by Relevant to Our Interests
Scripting by Frank Shaw
Edited by: Frank Shaw
Graphic Design by: Nathan Newell
Intro Music: Morning Activities by F.G. Shaw
Outro Music: Morning Activities by F.G. Shaw

Disny and Netflix are parting ways!

Xhamster offers to buy the rights to Sense8

Brittish Cannibals! 
[Here is the actual paper on this. If you speak "SCIENCE" or more specifically "ANTHROPOLOGY!" it may prove to be a fascinating read. Otherwise follow these other links for a more layman explanation.]

For those interested in FFXI: GO HERE!
[This is a fun game, but I'm undecided whether to continue playing. If it wasn't still subscription based it would be a no brainer, but with Path of Exile now available on Xbox One, as well as a large group of RPG's still on my back list it's a tough sale. It's currently on sale (till August 31st) and comes with a month free, so I still might dive into it, but then again....]

Frank's Rant on Iron Fist

We meant to post this with the notes, but here it is by itself instead. Frank has some pretty strong feelings about Iron Fist, but despite that he's still hopeful about Defenders.


This is supposed to be about a dude with magical fists of iron and we hardly get any of that. Daredevil is getting his ass kicked like every episode. Jessica Jones isn’t throwing cars around constantly, but at least when it isn’t showing her fighting or her powers her character and side characters were interesting and her series gave us plenty of time with the villain. Even Luke Cage has some brilliant moments early on showcasing bullets bouncing off of him. What the hell Marvel?

Madam Gao is one of the coolest villains in Daredevil season one and in this series, where she's a natural fit they barely spent any time with her. Upping the stakes in the series doesn’t mean adding more bad guys half way through: DD season 2 did it, Luke Cage did it, and now Iron Fist and it did it so poorly! You’ve already got two potentially fascinating villains in Gao and Harold, why the hell throw Bakuto in there? If it was for the twist, that’s fucking lame because it was goddamned obvious it was going to happen. You have all this potential and you fucking wasted it because for whatever reason the show runners thought it would be more entertaining to focus on running a business/hostile takeovers/ and corporate moralizing than the potentially kick ass characters and their depth.

The first three or four episodes should have been one. Bakuto should have been introduced sooner (or better left out completely). Madam Gao and her network should have had way more screen time than they did. There’s some good here. The series picks up decently by episodes 6/7, but fuck me running! That’s half way through the series! If your series isn't interesting to watch until halfway through, then maybe you should have started the plot and development closer to that point.

This is depressing. There was so much potential here, but there are many problems: too few fight scenes, uninteresting dialogue, characters whose arcs are barely speed bumps, and not enough focus on the truly interesting characters or worse yet waffling with them and then trying to do all the interesting shit with their characters right at the end. I hope this get’s one more season, not because it was good (it’s tolerable, I will probably watch it again before the Defenders) but because I want to give the creators one more chance to repent for what they gave us with this.

Episode 35: Iron Fist ("Hi Ron Fist!")

Episode 35: Iron Fist
Hosts: Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Produced by Hobos in the Back Row
Scripting by Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Edited by: Frank Shaw
Graphic Design by: Nathan Newell
Intro Music: Piano Sonata mvnt 1 by F.G. Shaw
Outro Music: Piano Sonata mvnt 3 by F.G. Shaw

Forever behind, and never a head. Here are the show notes for Episode 35: Iron Fist, only several months after the fact.

First up! I [Frank] talks about Nintendo, at the time of the episode the Switch had only been out for a couple months, but was (and still is) selling quite well. However Nintendo has discontinued the NES Classic. There was speculation at the time about some of the reasons why they might be discontinuing the device, it's now been revealed that one of the primary reasons is the SNES classic coming out in September. Now the price of the NES classic is so much that it's cheaper to buy the games off the secondary market (especially if you currently own an original NES). I'm still baffled as to the business decision about this, even with the SNES classic coming out. I hope to get one, but we'll see.

John discuss an awesome web comic: Six Billion Demons. Read it. It's incredible and definitely worth a look.

John also talks about the "The Pure Paladins of Palavan" his favorite strike team for Mass Effect: Andromeda.

For the main episode we talk about Iron Fist... Yeah. Despite all the issues, and there were a lot of issues, but I'm [Frank] still hopeful for the Defenders and another season of Iron Fist. I guess they can't all be home runs.

John also gives out bad advice and it's darkly hilarious.

Episode 34: Villains

Episode 34: Villains
Hosts: Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Produced by Hobos in the Back Row
Scripting by Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Edited by: Frank Shaw
Graphic Design by: Nathan Newell
Intro Music: Piano Sonata mvnt 1 by F.G. Shaw
Outro Music: Piano Sonata mvnt 3 by F.G. Shaw

John and I had meant to do a few more of these lists shows this past year, but sadly that didn't happen. We did manage to do this one in which we wax philosophical on a few of our favorite villains. These are villains that would appear on both of our top 10 lists along with a bonus villain from each of us that doesn't appear on the others list. 

But first:

Divinity Original Sin: This game has consumed many hours of my free time, and will consume many more hours. It's a grind, it can be difficult, but damned if it isn't a satisfying game. If you like old school CRPG's with turned based tactical combat then I recommend you pick this up. 

Valerian Trailer: I'm not going to say much about this other than.... WATCH!



John talks about the book The Worst of Evils: The Fight Against Pain. It's a fascinating look at pain and how it's been viewed and treated through out history. 

He also talks about Deeply Dapper Beard Oil, which is a shop located in Pocatello Idaho and has a wide variety of fun stuff for sale on their site. John is a really big fan of their beard oil, enough to talk about it on the show. They have flasks, soaps, posters and stickers and a variety of other items for sale. 

Villains:
Those we've already discussed:

Mason Savoy: Chew [Episode 5: Chew]
Kilgrave: Jessica Jones [Episode 15: Jessica Jones]
Bill Cipher: Gravity Falls [Episode 32: Gravity Falls]

And two that haven't showed up on the podcast... yet. 
Nox: Wakfu
Scorpio: FarScape

John's bonus villain is Toffee from Star vs. The Forces of Evil

And my villain is Queen Ileosa from Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path

And of course... we had another brilliant edition of John's Bad Advice!

John's Bad Advice!

It's that time again! Submit your questions for John's Bad Advice. Comment on this post or comment on our Facebook page! Or email us at relevant2rinterests@gmail.com or shoot us a message on Twitter @lojakz or @jrbelliston.

Episode 33: Trollhunters

Episode 33: Trollhunters
Hosts: Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Produced by Hobos in the Back Row
Scripting by Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Edited by: Frank Shaw
Graphic Design by: Nathan Newell
Intro Music: Piano Sonata mvnt 1 by F.G. Shaw
Outro Music: Piano Sonata mvnt 3 by F.G. Shaw

Frank and John chat about John's newest obsession Amateur Surgeon 4, a free game you can download. (It's fun, but of course there are in app purchases. 

John and Frank also discuss Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's 20 years old this year (the television series). John is not as fond of it as Frank is. 

John also delves a bit into the Occult with his Lepracaun Trap. Pictured Here:

John says it involves alchemy and the Seal of Solomon. I couldn't say but it looks cool and if he manages to catch a Leprechaun hopefully he'll share the wealth. 

And Frank talks about Extra Credits, and specifically Extra History. It's a Youtube channel that talks about game development and concepts but also has a spin-off series that delves into different historical topics. It's pretty fantastic: Here's their Patreon page. 

And of course: John gives out advice... badly! In John's Bad Advice.

For the main event Frank and John chat about the Netflix series produced and co-created by Guillermo Del Toro: Trollhunters. If you haven't watched it, and you like animated series (or cartoons) then you owe yourself a favor to check this out. If you have older kids, then you should down and watch it with them because it's pretty fantastic and has an amazing amount of emotional depth. It's probably one of the best produced series that Dreamworks has come out with. 
That being said, mentioning Trollhunters without mentioning the incredibly tragic death of Anton Yelchin would be a mistake. Anton voices the protagonist Jim Lake. Yelchin was a talented actor and his potential will sadly never be realized. 

Episode 32: Gravity Falls

Episode 32: Gravity Falls
Hosts: Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Produced by Hobos in the Back Row
Scripting by Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Edited by: Frank Shaw
Graphic Design by: Nathan Newell
Intro Music: Piano Sonata mvnt 1 by F.G. Shaw
Outro Music: Piano Sonata mvnt 3 by F.G. Shaw

We finally come back from our long hiatus to talk about one of our favorite TV shows (and cartoons) Gravity Falls. We both love this show, it has layers that are mind boggling when you take in repeated viewings and if you are a lover of cartoons, or really well plotted television this show has it in spades. It doesn't seem particularly sophisticated at first blush, which is one of the reasons it's so easily dismissed, but as you can tell by our long and enthusiastic conversation it has a lot going on. There's a lot to talk about themes and philosophy behind the show as well, Frank took the time to read through Gravity Falls TV Tropes, where it touches on some of these ideas (and reveals a lot of stuff you may have missed). 

On what's interesting Frank talks about the recent discovery of 7 planets found around the dwarf star Trappist-1. I find anything like this exciting news. Here's hoping this trend of discovery continues in the the next few years. 

Frank also talks JRPG, for the uninitiated that's Japanese Role Playing Game it's one of two popular genre's of RPG that are found on consoles/computers. In this case he discusses the Atelier franchise, a series of games in which you play an alchemist striving to be the best damn alchemist ever. That's really it, though there are different plots that premise is woven into through each game. There have been 18 main series games created for the franchise, most are not related (though a few are). The games are light and charming, and if you're a fan of JRPG's they are worth checking out. 

John discusses the Humble Bundle, which is a pay what you want program will let you get games, digital books and comics, and software on the cheap. They have deals monthly, weekly and bi-weekly and also offer a subscription service. If you're inclined to like any of those three things jumping in and grabbing a Humble Bundle (or subscribing to it's service) is a great way to get lots of digital stuff. 

John discusses his occult books some more. He recently purchased a book of old Icelandic spells and the trend continues. There will be more in future episodes. 

John then discusses Psychonauts 2. Which is happening, and he can be more excited for. Here a page where they keep things updated on the project. 

Finally, John talks about The Illuminatus Trilogy, a book series a mutal friend of ours has been after him to read for quite some time. I can talk about it much as I haven't read it, but John says its.... weird.

Finally, John's Bad Advice! A new feature in every podcast. If you have a question for John's Bad Advice email us at relevant2rinterests@gmail.com or shoot us a message at our page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Relevant2RInterests/  or shoot Frank a message on twitter @lojakz. 
We'll feature your question on the show and give you a little shout out!

Episode 31: Christmas

Episode 31: Christmas
Hosts: Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Produced by Hobos in the Back Row
Scripting by Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Edited by: Frank Shaw
Graphic Design by: Nathan Newell
Intro Music: Piano Sonata mvnt 1 by F.G. Shaw
Outro Music: Piano Sonata mvnt 3 by F.G. Shaw

Here it is! The notes for the Christmas episode. John and I [Frank] mostly wax nostalgic about Christmases past. Neither one of us are particularly festive any more, but at one time we were kids and there were some Christmas movies that we really liked. There were Christmas traditions we really liked as well. So this episode we talk about that... and John Talks about Terraria again. He also chats a bit about an Icelandic book of spells he acquired. 

First up John's book of Icelandic Spells. Or, the Sorcerers Screed as it's actually called. Yep, that link will take you to a page where it's for sale. The book itself is interesting (I've looked at it) in that it was compiled by Christians (monks?) so while there's references to Thor and Odin through the text (as well as other Heathen gods) some of the commentary also references church bells, angels and Christ. Not something most people would want on their shelf, but for those that are curious, historically inclined, or practitioners of spiritual Magic it may be worth a look. 



Here's a Christmas Story! I loved this movie as a kid. It's one of the films my father really enjoyed so it brings back some good memories when I watched it with him. 

And Christmas Vacation: Another movie I watched with my father. This one we would watch nearly every year after it was released. Which sadly wasn't as many times as you'd think. The movie still makes me laugh to this day. 

John had three movies, 2 from his childhood and one that he just watched this past holiday season. 

First up The Muppet Christmas Carol. I can't talk much about this one. I love (admittedly) the story of the Christmas Carol and have since I was a kid, it's been a very long time since I've seen this film. 

Next The Santa Clause. Now I didn't see this initially until about 6 years after it first released, once it began to get play on cable. I wasn't impressed with my initial viewing but over the years the movie has grown on me. 

Finally, John watched Hogfather for the first time this year. I have yet to see it, you can hear him talk about it in the episode, but he really liked it. 

Notes: Episode 30: Dr Strange.

Episode 30: Dr. Strange
Hosts: Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Produced by Hobos in the Back Row
Scripting by Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Edited by: Frank Shaw
Graphic Design by: Nathan Newell
Intro Music: Piano Sonata mvnt 1 by F.G. Shaw
Outro Music: Piano Sonata mvnt 3 by F.G. Shaw

Better late then never!

John and I got sidetracked heavily with the holidays and the post holidays and the long hard winter here in Utah. Ok, no excuses. But now that we're getting into gear again we will get back into the schedule of having these out about a week after each episode.

From this episode not a lot.

I (Frank) talk about the unfortunate young man who fell into a hot springs in Yellowstone. Here's an article from the Washington Post on it. Here's one from CNN. They both have essentially the same information. There isn't a lot to update on this. It's terrible for his family and loved ones.

John talks about why online dating sucks. I'm not going to link to online dating sites, you can find them if you're looking for them quite easily. I think John had some fantastic points about it.

He also discussed Transformers Prime, which we will be featuring on the podcast at some point in the near future.

He also talks about his love of Terraria. Check it out here on Steam or here on GOG.

And finally, before we dicuss the meat of the episode, John gives out the life hack about dry erase markers ability to remove sharpie from white boards.


We discuss Dr. Strange. It's available now on Bluray and to stream. There's not a lot more to say about it other than it's definitely worth a watch. Especially if you like Marvel films. It's almost required viewing. Here's the IMDB page.