Episode 29: Luke Cage

Episode 29: Luke Cage
Hosts: Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Special Guest: D'Artagnon Wells
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 Frank are joined by D'Artagnon Wells to talk about Luke Cage: Did we like it? Did we enjoy the characters? Did we say say 'sweet christmas' several times during the episode? Give it a listen and you tell us!
 We also talk about Pandemic Cthulhu, the Arrow-verse, Black Mirror, the nihilism of John's nephew,  the Nintendo Switch (because Frank can't stop talking about it) and the computer game Sunless Sea. So dive in.

For the main meat of the episode we have links for you:

This is a Time article on the series. It gives a little bit of background on the series, and was initially published about a week or two before the series released.

Here's a story from WiReD discussing the political undertones of the series, as well as being an interview with the principle writer/creator of the series: C heo Hodari Coker. This article cam out in August. 

Finally an article discussing the music of the series, which is phenomenal by the way.

From the What's Interesting: 

Sunless Sea! John loves this game, and I suspect it'll come back up in conversation again, but if you're curious this takes you to the main page of Failbetter Games, the designer of this game and Fallen London. 

Here's a link to ZMan Games site for Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu. We don't discuss boardgames a lot on the podcast though both John and Frank play a lot of table top games: John has regular RPG groups he plays with each week and Frank plays boardgames with his lady and with a local group on a fairly frequent basis. Someday we may take an episode and chat about our favorite games, but until then we'll leave it to D'Artagnon to bring boardgames into the conversation. 

If you have any thoughts, comments, questions or concerns just comment below or email us at relevant2rinterest@gmail.com

Next episode!

We're getting ready to record the next episode on Sunday.

Can you guess what the subject is?

Episode 28: Horror Movies pt. 2

Episode 28: Horror Movies pt. 2
Hosts: Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Special Guest: Chris Thames
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

Just in time for Halloween, Notes! Not a lot of notes this week just movie lists!
Give these movies a watch, then listen to the podcast to hear our thoughts. 

Franks films:
They Look Like People
Creep
He Never Died
Would You Rather

All of Franks films are currently available to watch on Netflix.

John's Movies:
Troll Hunter
The Voices
Zombeavers
Deathgasm
Don't Blink

All of John's movies are available to stream on Netflix

Chris' List:
Sinister
Curse of Chucky
Trick r' Treat
Event Horizon
The Thing
John Dies at the End
The Witch

Curse of Chucky, Event Horizon, John Dies at the End are available to watch on Netflix.

Happy Halloween!

Episode 27: Youtube Absurdist Shorts

Episode 27: Absurdist Youtube Videos pt. 1
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: Frank Shaw
Intro Music: Piano Sonata mvnt 1 by F.G. Shaw
Outro Music: Piano Sonata mvnt 3 by F.G. Shaw

This post is going to have a lot of links to a lot of videos. I had considered embedding the videos, but I think it would be a bit unwieldy to browse, as I wanted to include all of the videos relevant to this episode.

First up Rob Cantor:
Shia Labeouf. If you watch any of his vids (and you should watch all of them honestly he's a great musician) watch this one! Then watch this short on the philosophy of Shia Labeouf. I have to admit he's become a bit fascinating in my mind, and could possibly be the topic of a future episode.
Celebrity Impressions. It's a bit of a stretch to put this here, but it's still a pretty awesome vid, a fantastic song, and a bit too good to be true.  
Finally, here's the video to All I Need is You. Watch it for the song first, then turn the volume down and watch it for the visuals.  

Rachel Bloom:
Her stuff is fantastic, first of all, but very much NSFW. This shouldn't be too surprising given the nature of our podcast. So make sure you have the headphones in. 
Fuck Me Ray Bradbury
Historically Accurate  Disney Princess Song
I Was a Mermaid Now I'm a Pop-star. 
Here's the link to her page: If you think any of the above links are funny, or relevant, or even interesting, please go check it out.  Her work, while not "weird" exams the absurdism of relationships, sex, and social interactions and expectations. 

Too Many Cooks
This video is linked in the heading of this section... it's weird, but there's some hope for understanding:
In this episode Renegade Cut he does a fairly good analysis of it, and it's one that I mention in the podcast that I like.  
Here's another interpretation that takes a slightly different take, keep in mind neither of us had watched this video before recording the podcast. There are parallels to the Renegade Cut episode, though it takes the stance of the Studio against the Creator, rather than the Audience vs. the Studio. I feel both are great interpretations. So watch Too Many Cooks, and then watch the interpretation vids. 

Finally, Don't Hug Me I'm Scared:
Episode One
Episode Two
Episode Three
Episode Four
Episode Five
Episode Six
Those are the main episodes of the series. There's a few shorter vids that are related, but are not completely necessary to watch to get the full effect of the series. (but are fun and disturbing). 
Now watch the Film Theories two part episode on the series, Part 1 and Part 2.  

We'll be revisiting absurdist Youtube videos again. There's so much we haven't touched on. But don't be shy, explore these yourself. 

 

Episode 26: Steven Universe and Nostalgia part 2

Episode 26: Steven Universe and Nostalgia pt. 2
Hosts: Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Produced by Hobos in the Back Row
Scripting by Frank Shaw
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

There aren't a lot of show notes for this episode. Just a couple of links to some articles that we felt were quite relevant to the topic. Steven Universe is something that John absolutely loves (and if you've listened to the podcast that's quite apparent) and it's something that Frank enjoys as well. So this is a cartoon we'll revisit, probably next fall.

This first link is an article addressing nostalgia from the perspective of "queer kids" that grew up in the 90's. Neither John, nor Frank can fully identify with this perspective, but we can empathize and sympathize with this perspective. Homosexuality is something that society has become more comfortable and accepting of. The cautiousness of the 90's has given way to Steven Universe, a cartoon that openly shows same sex relationships, but in such a way that it never comes across as preachy. The genius of the show is how it embraces the idea of love and family and friendship. Those are the real themes of the cartoon, and ultimately it helps trigger those warm longing feelings of nostalgia that we seem to seek as we grow older.

The second article is an in depth commentary of the nostalgia of Steven Universe. This is the article where the quote from Mad Men is used that I quoted in the episode. It touches on some of the same stuff we did, but is worth a read, just for the author's enthusiasm for the series.

Nostalgia is subjective. John and Frank get that. They understand that that what triggers those wonderful feels in one person won't necessarily be the same for the next. We heavily criticized Stranger Things (despite enjoying the series) for forcing the nostalgia. Some people might be inclined to do the same with Steven Universe. Nostalgia will have a part 3 on the podcast, probably sooner than later.

Episode 25: John Hate's What You Love: Stranger Things and Nostalgia pt. 1

Episode 25: John Hate's What You Love: Stranger Things and Nostalgia pt. 1
Hosts: Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Produced by Hobos in the Back Row
Scripting by Frank Shaw
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


Some rather involved note's this time. Partly to touch on a few things that we meant to discuss but neglected to, partly to clarify our position on the show.

First, in case it's not clear from the episode, John and I do like the series. Quite a lot actually. But we have, and the podcast illustrates this, some major complaints and criticisms about the series. Mostly how it seeks to completely create nostalgia whole-cloth by emulating intellectual properties from the 80's. This may work for some (a lot) of viewers. The next podcast explores nostalgia a bit more, and it's a subject that we'll come back to,  but now let's jump into the articles both sources for the podcast, and interesting articles that we discovered after the fact.

There's several well documented lists that detail the inspiration for the series. The Duffer brothers also detail many of the inspirational sources themselves in various interviews.  Some of the inspirations are blatantly obvious as you watch the series, some are more subtle. There are things the series does right. The fact that it is essentially a 7 1/2 hour film, and is able to explore characters that would not normally be explored through the course of the film. Winona Ryder's character, as well as her older son's story is developed and interesting. The character of Nancy is also explored, which would not have happened had this simply been a film.

The monster, the Demogorgon, both of us have some issues with. John is disappointed that it isn't stranger and more ominous than it ends up being. (I am too.) There was a lot of potential with the monster initially. The concept art for it shows that it could have been so much more than it actually was. My major complaint is that the Duffy brothers, and the series itself, doesn't bother to attribute the Lovecraftian horror influence that the source material that inspired them is clearly pulling from.

There's also something that we neglected to talk about (though I did tease it at one point with my E.T. comment), and that's the fact that Eleven is woefully neglected in many ways. And in many ways is a text book example of the "Smurfette Principle."  I had meant to bring up the idea that Eleven was essentially the token girl, but failed to during the course of the episode. Millie Bobby Brown is a great young actress and hopefully they explore her characters life, and move away from the horrible tragedy and making her the token magical creature (a la E.T.) that she ends up being in the first season.

Now for a couple of positive things: The Upside Down, what a fantastic idea! This is honestly one of my favorite parts of the show, and I'm very excited about being able to explore it more in the next season (I really hope they do.) The idea of a parallel universe is one of those sci-fi tropes that I just can't get enough of, and it's something that I fully embrace with this series. I love the idea of there being a side dimension along side our own and the fact that there is some scientific evidence that lends credence to the idea.

There are many questions left open at the end of the series. There's are fan theories about Will, Eleven, the Upside Down, the Demogorgon. We put forth our favorite theory about Eleven in the podcast as detailed in this video by Uproxx. There are other theories about the monster out there that are just as engaging. 

John (despite the title) and I really did enjoy the series. It's one of the reasons why we're so critical of it. We recognize all the things it does right (and it does a lot). While pointing out all of the things it does wrong. One of the things that we both feel missed the mark is the idea that it tries to manufacture the nostalgia for the viewer. This does, admittedly work for a lot of folks that watched the show, it didn't for us. It felt forced and unfortunately we both think it could have been better had it not attempted to do that.  The Duffer brothers have some genuine talent for creating interesting plots, and characters. There's a lot of potential in this IP and there's a lot of obvious love and passion that went into making it. So if you haven't, give the episode a listen for our full thoughts on the series and nostalgia. And if you haven't go watch Stranger Things, because despite our criticism it is really an enjoyable series.

Episode 24: Bob's Burgers.

Episode 24: Bob's Burgers
Hosts: Frank Shaw and John Belliston
Produced by Hobos in the Back Row
Scripting by Frank Shaw
Edited by: Frank Shaw
Graphic Design by: Nathan Newell
Music Loop for "What's Interesting" Autumn_Loop Wave created by M-Red
Intro Music: Piano Sonata mvnt 1 by F.G. Shaw
Outro Music: Piano Sonata mvnt 3 by F.G. Shaw

The Bob's Burgers episode was hell to finally get down. It took 5 separate attempts over the course of three weeks at either scheduling or actually trying to record before we got the above episode . One of the great disadvantages to John and myself not being in the same city. We got it though, and I'm pretty pleased with how fun the episode turned out.

Next episode (Episode 25) is going to be on Star Trek the Original Series. John will be missing, but I'll be joined by our friend Richard Sanders. So be sure to check it out.

Here's an interview with H. John Benjamin made just after the first season of Bob's Burgers.

One thing both John and I find fun to do (though it isn't always relevenant to the episode) is look at topics T.V. Tropes. It's fun to see how television, movies, and video games fall into place, or subvert the different popularized tropes. Here's the link to Bob's Burgers page.