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