Iteration 205 - Beauty and the Beast

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In this iteration, we begin with talk about the Waghi tribe of Papua New Guinea who uses The Phantom as a sigil that they draw on their war shields. Then we talk a little bit about Suicide Squad, and the fan-made version of Metroid 2. Josh gets back into Dwarf Fortress, and gets annoyed with it. Josh plays some board games at Interactivity! And for a main topic, we discuss the Disney film the Beauty and the Beast, mainly about the role of Gaston. Ryan thinks Gaston gets short shrift, but Josh is a bit less forgiving. Ryan wants to take the sorceress to task, but Josh thinks the castle staff had it coming. And we ask about the extent of the Beast's curse, and why it seems to extend to the surrounding countryside, because it causes the people to forget the castle.

References and Recommendations:

Interactivity Board Game Cafe: http://www.ibgcafe.com/

Critical Role: http://geekandsundry.com/shows/critical-role/

Iteration 204 - Flavours of Evil

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This week we're excited about Starbound, a new video game we found out about from Kickstarter. We talk about microfiction as it appears in commercials. And we talk about education, conspiracy theories, and ideology. Josh plays D&D at roll for initiative, and reviews Stranger Things. Ryan finally gets started on the Game of Thrones television series, and he absolutely loves it. Ryan and Zoey review The Secret Life of Pets. And for our main topic, we talk about flavours of evil, different kinds of villains and degrees of villainy.

References and Recommendations:

Starbound (video game): http://playstarbound.com/

Roll for Initiative (local face-to-face gaming event): http://www.rollforinitiative.ca/

Stranger Things (television series): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4574334/

Game of Thrones (television series): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944947/

The Secret Life of Pets (2016 film): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2709768/

Iteration 197 - The Animal Singularity and Other Topics

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We start our show off with banter about Math class versus French class. Then we move onto a discussion of the Warcraft movie. Whether or not it's better to make a film to appeal only to fans. And how we would make a D&D movie if it was up to us. Then we talk about Kevin Smith's new movie Yoga Hosers. Josh gets addicted to Cookie Clicker. Ryan watches an old movie called The Pillow of Death and has a beef about its ending in which the wrong characters end up as a couple at the end. And Josh shares a thought about the Animal Singularity.

References and Recommendations:

Warcraft (2016 film): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0803096/

Yoga Hosers (2016 film): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3838992/

The Pillow of Death (1950 film): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037989/

Iteration 196 - Optimal Number of Murder Suspects

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We start off with a bit of talk about the theatrical and storytelling nature of boxing, in light of the passing of Muhammad Ali. For our main topic this week, Ryan watched Calling Doctor Death, and we wonder whether there's an optimal number of suspects for a murder mystery on film or in books. Then in the course of this, we invent a setting for a Western in which every citizen is required to have killed someone.


References and Recommendations:

Cookie Clicker: http://orteil.dashnet.org/cookieclicker/

Calling Dr. Death (1943 film): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035706/

Iteration 190 - The Question of Harm to Animals in Simulations

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Reptilian creatures from space are coming to earth to take our jobs! We talk about our adventures in simulations, the video games we played, the movies we watched, and the random thoughts we had about the Flintstones. For our main topic this week, Ryan brings us his review of Murder at the Zoo, specifically a scene in which a lion fights a cougar. And we get to pondering about the ethics of enjoying fights and suffering, and whether it makes a difference if it's simulated or real.

References and Recommendations:

The Secret World (MMORPG): http://www.thesecretworld.com/

Roll for Initiative Victoria: http://www.rollforinitiative.ca/

Murders in the Zoo (1933 film): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024360/

Sharktopus vs Whalewolf (2015 film): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharktopus_vs._Whalewolf

Iteration 189 - Monsters on the Big Screen

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In this iteration of the podcast, we ask if Ryan was a member of the Paw Patrols, which dog would he be? Ryan's conspiracy moment: muffins are actually three-dimensional cookies. This leads us into a discussion of physics. We talk about visual changes in Blizzard's Overwatch game. We recount our own personal weekly adventures in simulations. We talk about Marvel's weird villain Ruby Thursday. And for our main topic, we were inspired by Ryan's watching of King Kong vs Godzilla, and we wonder why we don't see more screen time for monsters in monster movies?

Iteration 177 - The Return of the X-Files!

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We begin with a follow-up on the Dungeon Master's Guild, some thoughts on how we've been inspired to take up a couple throw-away details from the show, and make a mark on the Forgotten Realms. A strange tangent to why Wikipedia is cool. Josh reports on a game of D&D he played at Roll for Initiative. Ryan gives Josh advice for advancing his comedy career. Ryan reviews Dracula Untold. We review the first three or so episodes of Rick and Morty that we just watched on Adult Swim. We talk about how Ryan would fare as a civillian protagonist in a Futurama-style adventure. Then we talk about the first episode of the new X-Files. Ryan invents the "with" sign.

References and Recommendations:

Roll for Initiative: http://www.rollforinitiative.ca/

Dracula Untold (2014 film): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0829150/

Rick and Morty (Adult Swim cartoon): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2861424/

GURPS Illuminati (book): http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/Illuminati/

The X-Files Files: http://www.feralaudio.com/show/x-files-files/

Iteration 175 - Braving Tradition

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We start by making excuses for why we're not doing more actual writing. In Minecraft, Josh builds a map house, and Ryan gets lost in the Nether. And Ryan watched, and reviews, Brave the 2012 film. For our main topic, we talk about the use and breaking of tradition. In a meta sense, in terms of breaking movie tropes, as well as in an internal sense, by the main character breaking with tradition. Plus a weird tangent in the middle in which we determine whether Ryan would stay as the Beast if he was magically transformed into it.

References and Recommendations: 

Brave (2012 film): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1217209/

Iteration 141 - Watching Television

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In this week's episode of the Simulationist podcast, Josh and Ryan talk about television, and what it means to binge watch, and how that affects how we take in the story.

References and Recommendations:

Man gets stuck on ride at Disneyland: 
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/27/disney-small-world-ride/2025273/

Cybersix: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybersix

The Destructors (short story) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Destructors

Dungeons & Dragons Official Soundtrack http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Official-Roleplaying-Soundtrack/dp/B0000BZYIS

Iteration 135 - Celestial Politics

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In this iteration of the Simulationist Podcast, we wish everyone a happy easter! We talk about what would happen to a vampire staked by the true cross. Josh gets fascinated by hairless animals. Josh describes some of his adventures in building stuff in Minecraft. Ryan recounts more of his Museum adventures, and we talk about the films being filmed in Victoria and elsewhere in BC. Somehow we talk about corporal punishment. And for our main topic, we talk about the politics and organizational models of deific pantheons. Josh tries to tempt Ryan with reincarnation.


References and Recommendations:

Board Game Jam in Victoria: https://www.facebook.com/events/628331170601223/

Paper Street Theatre http://www.paperstreettheatre.ca/season.html

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