Meander In Geek

Meander In Geek

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Amblin’ Entertainment: Our hosts glide through various pieces of news and entertainment that caught their attention this last week. Andrew finds himself lost amid some very strange controversy around the game engine, Godot, while also quite enjoying Netflix’s queer teenage dramedy, Heartstopper. D. Bethel admits he’s a fan of the famed horror manga creator, Junji Ito, and found a lot to like in the first episode of the Adult Swim animated adaptation of his acclaimed work, Uzumaki, though it sounds like episode 2 may not quite live up to the expectations established by the premiere.

TOPICS:
(00:00) Intro – Andrew & D. break down The Night of the Living Dead
(04:04) Andrew breaks down the Godot game engine controversy
(12:19) D. Bethel is impressed (for now) with the anime (?) adaptation of Junji Ito’s Uzumaki.
(23:41) Andrew finds Netflix’s Heartstopper very endearing.
(41:09) Outro – D. Bethel & The Amityville Horror
(44:41) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Brine and Brinstar” (31 October 2014): Where our hosts discuss George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead.
  • “Privilege of Ubiquity” (15 September 2023): Where our hosts discuss some controversy generated by a change in its licensing policy for developers using its engine.
  • “A Relaxed Schedule” (20 October 2023): Where our hosts discuss another British sex dramedy, Sex Education.

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FEATURED MUSIC:

High Five Lag

High Five Lag

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WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew is pleasantly suprised and intrigued by the recent CBS…reboot? remake? metacommentary?…of Matlock starring Kathy Bates. D. Bethel tries to intersect his professional and personal interests with the critical works about video games, comics, and movies from the French publisher, Third Editions. Specifically, he’s started a dive into Decoding The Last of Us: The Remnants of Humanity by Nicolas Deneschau, though they spend a fair amount talking about The Impact of Akira: A Manga [R]evolution by Rémi Lopez.

TOPICS:
(00:00) Intro – Our hosts are busy
(03:04) Andrew’s Week in Geek: Matlock
(19:54) D.’s Week in Geek: Decoding The Last of Us: The Remnants of Humanity
(40:09) Outro – That’s Called Friendship
(41:01) Outtakes

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Prime Time Crime” (5 March 2021): Where Andrew finds a lot to like and not like in the reboot of The Equalizer.
  • “Attachment Point” (9 February 2024): Where Andrew reflects on five seasons of the Magnum, P.I. reboot.

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The Sheng Long Distraction

The Sheng Long Distraction

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WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew watches the new Disney+/MCU show, Agatha All Along, before realizing he’s still all-in on zombie media. D. Bethel, on the other hand, checks out the newest entry into the venerated Alien franchise with Alien: Romulus.

TOPICS:
(00:00) Intro – Agatha All Along first impressions
(11:18) Andrew orders a lot of The Walking Dead
(32:04) D. Bethel watches Alien: Romulus
(51:10) Outro – More Alien franchise talk
(54:40) Outtakes

The two The Walking Dead collections Andrew bought. LEGO minifig for scale.

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Con Artists #09 – CrockerCon Artists

Con Artists #09 – CrockerCon Artists

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This year is a big year with the local show, CrockerCon, reaching its 10th show in the Sacramento region. Being ten shows in, our hosts––D. Bethel of Long John and Kyrun Silva of Taurus Comics––get a bit reflective, especially since Kyrun has moved from being an exhibitor to a co-coordinator, giving us a look behind the curtain, beyond our normal look behind the table.

RELEVANT INFORMATION:

OTHER EPISODES:

A Wave of Tires

A Wave of Tires

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WEEK IN GEEK: D. Bethel has fallen ill, so our hosts decide to take it easy and share their respective weeks in geek. This week, Andrew watches a very unique television show based on a video game, Knuckles on Paramount+. D. Bethel, meanwhile, checks out some video games, the punishing but intriguing Pacific Drive, and the stylistically retro JRPG, Octopath Traveler.

TOPICS:
(00:00) Intro – D. is sick and it sucks
(02:05) Andrew dips back into The Walking Dead.
(03:44) Andrew’s Week in Geek: Knuckles on Paramount+
(17:33) D. Bethel’s Week in Geek #1: SquareEnix’s Octopath Traveler
(26:15) D. Bethel’s Week in Geek #2: Ironwood Studios’ Pacific Drive
(33:54) Outro – Surviving the Bell Riots
(36:01) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “National Character Counts” (20 October 2017): Where D. Bethel talks about another interesting take on the traditional JRPG formula, Battle Chasers.
  • “The Battle Is the Game” (03 April 2020): Where Andrew shares his experience playing Octopath Traveler.
  • “Attachment Point” (09 February 2024): Where D. Bethel lays out his opening hours with Sea of Stars.

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FEATURED MUSIC:

The Colon Matters

The Colon Matters

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NEWS CRUISE: Our hosts recap a lot of the nerdy and geeky news of the last week or so, including Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, new Dungeons & Dragons, DLC crossovers, and a Doctor Who spinoff?!?

TOPICS:
(00:00) Intro – Both hosts are to blame
(02:22) Star Trek news
(08:50) Dungeons & Dragons news
(16:41) Crossover DLC announcements from Dave the Diver, Balatro, and Dead By Daylight
(26:38) Doctor Who spinoff mini-series, The War Between the Land and the Sea, starts production
(35:09) Outro – Andrew’s Gravity Falls update
(38:53) Outtakes

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Chasing Chickens” (17 July 2020): Where D. shares his adventures into Gravity Falls.
  • “Day of the Diver” (05 January 2024): Where our hosts have a conversation about Dave the Diver.
  • “The 2-Body Solution” (29 March 2024): Where D. Bethel obsesses over Balatro.
  • “Nerd Intervention” (28 June 2024): Where the hosts discuss the finale to the most recent season/series of Doctor Who.
  • “Blanketcast” (09 August 2024): Where Andrew begins his adventure into Gravity Falls.

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Pardon Our Dust

Pardon Our Dust

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Due to literal construction disrupting the ability to record, there’s no new episode this week. Our hosts shall return soon, however! Thank you for your patience!

In the meantime, here are some recent episodes that were pretty good:

  • “Private Scientists” (23 February 2024): Our hosts discuss the homework involved (or not involved) in watching Disney+ Star Wars content (Ahsoka, in this case).
  • “A Bunch of Empty Sound” (5 April 2024): We bring in our On-The-Ground-Marvel correspondent, Kyrun Silva (of Taurus Comics), to talk about the opening episodes of X-Men ’97.
  • “Jersey Finger” (26 April 2024): In the middle of the frenzy that was Amazon Prime’s Fallout show, our hosts share their takes on it.
  • “Rads & Butts” (10 May 2024): Where our hosts check out Fallout 76 in the wake of its new popularity after the success of the Amazon Prime show.
  • “The Egyptian Sam Elliott” (19 July 2024): If there’s anything our hosts love, it’s Netflix’s Barbecue Showdown, and here they gush about the show’s third season.
  • “General Skalsfass” (16 August 2024): Andrew brings a discussion around tabletop RPGs and the necessity (or not) of knowing their rules to “properly” play or enjoy a game.

INFO:

General Skalsfass

General Skalsfass

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THE RULE OF RULES: Andrew shares his experience playing Fabula Ultima some more, and how it led to surprisingly divisive thoughts about how important––and, perhaps, necessary––the rules are of a tabletop RPG.

TOPICS:
(00:00) Intro – Andrew and his mouse problem
(03:43) Fabula Ultima and the importance of understanding (or misunderstanding?) TTRPG rules
(43:50) Outro – Andrew’s impending birthday
(47:19) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “So Many Halves” (14 June 2024): Where Andrew gets excited to start playing Fabula Ultima.
  • “Active Talk Battle” (21 June 2024): Where remains excited after playing Fabula Ultima.

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Blanketcast

Blanketcast

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UNDER CONSTRUCTION: It’s a quick check-in this week as one of our hosts has been displaced from his normal recording environment due to renovation occurring at his home. Despite that, our hosts do a quick check-in with D. finally wrapping up Marvel’s Midnight Suns while Andrew starts watching Gravity Falls from the beginning for the first time (having already seen the end).

TOPICS:
(00:00) Intro – D. Bethel’s recording environment has been compromised.
(01:36) D. finally finished playing Marvel’s Midnight Suns.
(07:05) Andrew started watching Gravity Falls.
(11:57) On deck: Batman: Caped Crusader.
(13:29) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Chasing Chickens” (17 July 2020): Where D. Bethel shared his experience watching through Gravity Falls.
  • “So Many Halves” (14 June 2024): Where D. first discussed Marvel’s Midnight Suns.

RELEVANT LINKS:

  • Alex Hirsch gives us a look at the displays for the upcoming publication of his new Gravity Falls-related book, The Book of Bill.

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Puddle Games

Puddle Games

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WEEK IN GEEK: After a week away for travel, our hosts return to talk about what has occupied their nerdy time. Andrew dives all in on season 2 of Star Trek: Prodigy on Netflix while D. Bethel starts to play the unique puzzle game, Arranger (while also fitting in a screening of Deadpool & Wolverine; NO SPOILERS).

TOPICS:
(00:00) Intro
(01:30) Andrew’s Week in Geek: Star Trek: Prodigy, season 2
(16:54) A new Star Trek series is announced, and a trailer dropped for the Star Trek: Section 31 movie.
(26:15) D. Bethel’s Week in Geek #1: Arranger
(37:30) D. Bethel’s Week in Geek #2: Deadpool & Wolverine (NO SPOILERS)
(42:58) Outro – Star Trek: Deep Space 9, “The Visitor” episode
(45:25) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “I Hardly Even Knew Me” (26 February 2016): Where D. Bethel discusses watching the first Deadpool movie.
  • “Punch the Microphone” (20 May 2016): Where Andrew discusses watching the first Deadpool movie.
  • “Eloquent as Ever” (5 November 2021): Where Andrew discusses season 1 of Star Trek: Prodigy (when it was on Paramount+).
  • “Space Man From Pluto” (30 June 2023): Where our hosts discuss the strange behavior of Paramount+, including the apparent cancellation (at the time) of Star Trek: Prodigy despite production seeming to have been completed.

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