4×03: HPATHBP (Part II) / FD&RA 01 / KITTENS!
(please note that there is a moderate amount of swearing in this episode, so don’t listen to this around your children)
Brady and Jay answer their first FD&RA column question and then talk about Kittens.
And then, picking up shortly (about 2 minutes) after the previous episode ended, Jay, Vanessa, Nick, and Sarah with an ‘h’ tangent into fan fiction before getting back on track with Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Beware, spoilers abound! [see the previous episode here]
Other tangents brought up:
- Harry Potter fan fiction and slash fiction, and Barry Trotter
- Nick’s blog entry he wrote early this week — 2012, Alaskan blob, zombie cart
- Hamsters biting fingers
- And somewhere in the background, Nick and Jay talk about Brazil, another movie Jim Broadbent (Slughorn) was in
- (and other background topics)
- Who would win in a fight between J. K. Rowling and J. R. R. Tolkien?
- The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy
- What Sarah needs to make her butterbeer
- Matthew’s obsession with carbonation
- Penis-shaped things
Actual topics covered (something we should do when topics last more than five minutes):
- Age discrepancies between book and movie
- ALAN F**KING RICKMAN
- Scenes dropped from the movie which would have made the movie better, and Translation vs. Adaptation in more detail
- Having to pee during these movies
- Opening night and some of the weird stuff fans do
And at some point, Jay cackles in a very creepy way and then pretends to be Joe Edwards.
And then Brady and Jay debut their new advice column, the Friends, Dating an Relationship Advice Column. Call in with your questions at 484-994-2126!
I’ve Identified Why Our World Is Spinning Out of Control
I have had a long standing belief that a true holiday is celebrated with Ham. For me it is not a real holiday in any sense of the word if there is no Ham. I do not mean to say that holiday’s must feature a pork product of some kind because then I would be on holiday all the time by my constant consumption of bacon. Instead I mean ham as in spiral, Virginia baked, Polish canned, peppered, etc…. although I have in the past extended the exception that if there is a holiday and you serve hamburgers it can qualify (Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, etc…). Yes I understand that hamburgers are beef and ham is pork and that they come from two different animals. But honestly, who doesn’t enjoy a juicy hamburger fresh off the grill with a nice melted slab of cheese on the top? Well maybe the veggie nuts but they always seem unhappy anyway so I have a feeling they are never on a holiday.
In anycase, I am getting off track. In reviewing my preference of holidays I stumbled across a strange little fact and currently the entire world is off alignment because of it. Obviously the number one holiday of the year is Christmas. Besides having the downside of having to spend time with extended family for an extended period of time, Christmas is really the pure breed of Holiday’s. Christmas has a larger than life mascot, Santa Claus. Christmas has presents. Christmas has ham, unless you are some sort of anti-ham celebrator in which case your holidays probably suck. And Christmas has candy. You can intersperse a series of other things that might make you happy to celebrate Christmas, like the arbitrary selection of a date in December to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ or cookies but nothing really compares to the fact that Christmas has the big four in terms of holiday celebrations.
Second on the list is Easter. It too has the unfortunate downside of extended family and extended visits but they are generally overcome by the fact that those people have to work the next day and thus their visits are generally shorter than on Christmas. It too can have presents but the Easter Bunny (larger than life mascot) does not have a magical sack to store stuff in, instead carrying around a much less practical magical basket that does not seem to have the capacity that St. Nick’s sack does thus presents on Easter are almost always an afterthought and certainly in less quantity. However Easter does have ham and it does have candy. So Easter can also have the big four in terms of holiday celebrations.
Third on the list is my birthday, which honestly has no unfortunate downsides except for the lack of candy, which can be easily remedied with a trip to the grocery story. It has presents and it generally has hamburgers, which qualify under the Holiday Exception Act of 1978. And it has me, so three out of four isn’t too bad. Which brings me to the fourth best holiday and this is where everything gets thrown out of whack. That holiday is Halloween. It has a larger than life mascot, that being The Great Pumpkin and it has candy, supplying it with two out of the four holiday definers. However it does not have ham, which means that Halloween is not really a holiday, yet at the same time it is the fourth best holiday. This of course throws our world out of whack and we are currently spiraling towards doom. I suppose you could inject some ham into the holiday by having a ham sandwich or a hamburger (HEA1978) but generally you are so busy getting yourself dressed into some sort of ridiculous costume to go out and beg for a sugary treat like a homeless person begging for spare change that ham doesn’t come into focus until it is too late and you are relaxing on your couch eating unchecked candy out of a pillow sack and watching a slasher film made by John Carpenter and really I think the damage is already done.
Anyway this revelation has thrown the world off its axis and we are very quickly spinning towards doom, maybe even as soon as the next 400 or 500 years. When the world falls apart or is hit by a giant asteroid you will know whom to blame. That being of course, Charlie Brown.
Behind the scenes: Weird Question-asking spam
So we got a question today, and I was wondering if it had anything to do with our FD&RA. But, as it turns out, it’s spam. Thanks to the Kublog for the info. I think we’ll dedicate some time to the question anyway.
It’s The End Of The World, etc. etc.
So, before the latest Harry Potter film (which is discussed at length in two podcasts), there was a trailer for the latest Roland Emmerich assault on the senses, 2012. (click here to watch the trailer). I leaned over to my significant other and said “It looks like they couldn’t decide what disaster movie to make, so they just said ‘Eff this, ALL OF THEM!’”
Little did we know at that time, how close to the end of the world we’re apparently coming right now.
4×02: Fictional Celebrity Deathmatch / Netflix WTF?! / HPATHBP
Our long title would have been longer if I didn’t shorten the Harry Potter bit. Our show would have been longer if I didn’t shorten the Harry Pottery bit!
Today brings Jay, Nessa, Adam (bulletproofheeb), Nick, Kati, and Sarah (whose ‘h’ I keep forgetting) into the studio-basement-cave thing to discuss as many random topics as:
- Who would win in a fight between ______ and ______?
- The worst ever movies you could find on Netflix
- Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
This episode is so big IT CANNOT BE CONTAINED IN ONE EPISODE!!!! So, basically, stay tuned for next week when we continue the discussion. [part two can be found here]
Suicide over Harry Potter Spoiler
The Huffington Post brought us tragedy this morning. A man, after overhearing that [somebody] dies in the VERY upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, committed suicide!
Now, the fact that someone would kill himself over some silly spoiler is tragic enough, especially when it’s someone demented enough to, “[disconnect] his computer from the Internet and [avoid] his favorite vintage comic book store.” But having Federal authorities block the flow of information is an appalling reaction! Sure, it starts with information about the Harry Potter series, but that’s just it! A START!
Next thing you know we’re the next North Korea.
Keep running
So someone actually DIED at the running of the bulls this year, in Spain. Apparently he’s the first in, like, the last 14 years. Somebody was nice enough to send me a link to the video.
Am I alone in thinking … hey! This looks like a lot of fun!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8144012.stm
Van Wilder is the Green Lantern?
Apparently the big news across Twitter is that Ryan Reynolds is playing the Green Lantern! That’s right. The same guy from The Proposal, Waiting, and Just Friends is going to play one of my favorite DC superheroes.
Now, didn’t he just play Deadpool (before he was actually called “Deadpool”) in that Marvel travesty where Wolverine said, “Bub” and Fred Dukes thought he called him, “Blob?” Yeah, I think so. So what’s the big WB thinking? I mean, I love Van Wilder as a comic actor (see Just Friends and Waiting) and I love him in his action roles like Hannibal in Blade: Trinity and when he was in Smokin’ Aces, but I never really knew the Green Lantern to be a funny, wisecrackin’, Spidey-type superhero guy .
I can’t really predict how this is going to turn out, but the same guy who directed Casino Royale is directing this, so don’t hold out for excellence.
Oh, wait, Casino Royale was the good one. Quantum of Solace was the bad one. I take that back.
Maybe.
4×01: Year One / Food for a Month
In the first episode of Vol. 4, Brady forgets to turn the mic on and Jay doesn’t wanna bother redoing the introductions. Then Brady tells you about Year One, starring Jack Black and Michael Cera, and Jay asks Brady an interesting question about food for a month.
The Lost Symbol
The sad thing is, I know I’m going to end up reading this Dan Brown novel. And I know I’m going to like the plot, despite all the contrived “suspense” Brown tries to create, and enjoy the book enough to hate myself afterward. Maybe he’s a better author than I give him credit for, because his stories can captivate me even though they annoy me to no end, and from the moment I pick up the book until I set it down, I actually care about the characters, however briefly. I actually want to see what happens.
Meh. I guess I have another guilty pleasure. His name is Dan Brown. And also, I’m a masochist.
My Music Monday: Special Tuesday Edition: Michael Jackson
Welcome to My Music Mondays on a special Tuesday. I’m sitting here at home, kind of watching the Michael Jackson Memorial Service, and kind of not at the same time. I am a little bit tired of all the constant MJ coverage but I thought today would be a good day to explore Jackson’s music as his life is celebrated in L.A.
Growing up, Michael Jackson was the biggest star on the planet. As I grew up in the 80s and early 90s there was nobody who could compete with his star power. A big reason for his star power was because his music was all encompassing and he, as a performer, embraced everyone. It didn’t matter if you were Black, White, Asian, Indian or the color of a grapefruit, MJ’s music brought everyone together. I’m not going to wax poetic about MJ as a musician, a performer, a humanitarian, a celebrity or even as an eccentric loony who was accused of being a child molester. I didn’t know the man and my personal views on his life are not going to change anyone else’s views. His accomplishments are historic and his dancing was iconic but in the end his legacy is his music and it will stand the test of time regardless of what anyone thinks of him.
Favorite Album: Thriller
It was a hard choice for me to make but Thriller is quite possibly the greatest album ever produced and it sees me coming back to it more than any other MJ release. Beat It, Thriller, Billie Jean, Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ are all classic songs that will go down as some of the best ever recorded and don’t even get me started on the videos…
20 Favorite Songs
20. She’s Out of My Life
19. Black or White
18. Remember the Time
17. Give In To Me
16. Bad
15. Can You Feel It
14. Keep the Faith
13. Rock With You
12. Thriller
11. Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)
10. The Way You Make Me Feel
9. Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough
8. Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
7. Smooth Criminal
6. I’ll Be There
5. I Want You Back
4. Billie Jean
3. ABC
2. Beat It
1. Man in the Mirror
What are some of your favorite Michael Jackson songs?
Leia: Who’s Your Daddy?
Bulletproofheeb of Buzznet has written a fascinating article—well, fascinating if you’re a Star Wars fan—about Princess Leia of the original Star Wars trilogy. The main crux of the story?
There is a medical term “hetero-paternal superfecundation” or bi-paternal twinning. This refers to an event when a mother carries two children at the same time from two different fathers. Most often this is when the mother releases two eggs (dizygotic) and has intercourse multiple times, leading to each egg being fertilized by different fathers. It is also possibly that an egg can be released during an already existing pregnancy and that egg can be fertilized by a second person, though this is much rarer. This is all true and it really does happen. Theory: Luke and Leia are a result of bi-paternal twinning.
Want more? Read on at Buzznet!
My Music Monday: Ingram Hill
Welcome to My Music Mondays. Each week I will be delving into my music collection and looking at a new artist going somewhat randomly currently but eventually from A to Z. I’ll examine why I first started listening to them, my favorite album and my top 10 songs for the artist. As my music collection is pretty extensive and I have a lot of one offs, I have set a qualification to be featured here. That is that I have to have at least two albums of the artist’s music before they can be considered. This week I look at Ingram Hill.
I’m not going to make any lame excuses about it. I dislike summer. I dislike the heat. I dislike the long days of sunlight. I pretty much dislike everything about it and would prefer to stay indoors away from the retina burning light of the sun. However its generally frowned upon so in an effort to stay social I do venture out in the sunlight on occasion. One thing that helps me get through the long, heat filled days (besides copious amounts of vodka) is music.
I have a very particular taste in music when summer roles around though, the music should generally be upbeat but not very heavy, almost laid back in a way but filled with the positive vibes that the sun is sucking out of my soul every minute I have to be out in it. Over the next few weeks for My Music Monday’s I am going to highlight some of my favorite “summer” bands. That’s not to say that their music isn’t good for me during more ideal forms of weather (like maybe a blizzard) but listening to these bands during the hot summer months always makes me feel less like killing small children than normal.
The third band on my small checklist is Ingram Hill. I first saw the Memphis based band open up a show for Hootie and the Blowfish at the House of Blues in Atlantic City and I was left mildly impressed. I decided to give their first album, “June’s Picture Show” a shot and really liked what I heard, so did my wife and we’ve been fans since then. They play guitar based, pop-rock filled with catchy hooks along the lines of “The Clarks”, and “Pat McGee”. I haven’t seen them in the area since that Hootie tour but they are still around creating music so I view that as a good thing.
Favorite Album: Cold in California
While I think “June’s Picture Show” is a fantastic album and actually has more songs on it that I would deem favorites, “Cold in California” is just a more solid album.
10 Favorite Songs
10. Impossible
9. The Captain
8. Firefly Ride
7. Almost Perfect
6. Never be the Same
5. She Wants to be Alone
4. Chicago
3. On My Way
2. Maybe It’s Me
1. Four Letter Word
So what do you think of Ingram Hill? Better yet, have you even ever heard of them?
Mouse Balancing
The game, obviously, is called Mouse Balancing, and you have to keep the mouse arrow facing down, otherwise you lose. I can’t get past 18.28 seconds.
Can you do better?
Buy the Ticket
Celebrity deaths, as a whole, don’t really effect me. The recent spate of news-worthy passings has meant nothing to me, beyond two reactions: A) “Wow, I didn’t know s/he’d been sick.” and B) “Wow, this seems a drastic media overreaction.” David Carradine, Ed MacMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson… they were all celebrities, yes. But they were also PEOPLE. And, believe it or not, people die every day, every minute. And most of them are not famous.
But still, I understand WHY people get so emotional. (more…)
