Iteration 214 - The Lamentations of the Nerdy

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We begin the podcast this week with a bit of a rave by Josh about how cool he finds the Men in Black franchise, but also a conspiracy thought about why a shadowy organization would make a chart-topping R&B dance number. And a discussion comparing and contrasting the worlds of Ghostbusters versus the Men in Black. Then Ryan brings us a discussion about race. We talk about the crows in Dumbo, and Ryan talks over Josh a bunch and it's not particularly satisfying, but hopefully Josh got his point out, even though neither of these guys are equipped for making judgments on what actually is and isn't racist. At this point, we try to make an awkward transition into an analogy between being from a culture that is being appropriated and a comic book nerd whose Batman isn't quite the same as the old Batman. Ryan expresses his inability to properly give a rating to the Batman Versus Superman film.

References and Recommendations:

Galavant! (TV series): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3305096/

Batman Versus Superman: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2975590/

Iteration 181 - Primordial Alphabet Soup

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We start by discussing the sport of boxing, and Josh gives his thoughts on his first boxing lesson. We talk about the evolutionary origins of play and sport. Then we turn to a weird tangent about drinking milk and playing sports. Then why do we eat so much of animals but so rarely ever drink animal blood? Then we talk about evolution, how it works, and what it means for making simulations. And will humans ever go extinct? Finally, Ryan rants about how people don't think enough.


References and Recommendations:

James Naismith, the inventor of basketball: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Naismith

Vibrating Football Game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJI9sFJ9RXQ

Iteration 094 - Analysis Exuberance

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In this iteration:
Josh recommends some of his favourite D&D-related podcasts: Harmontown, an adult podcast about friends and D&D; Critical Hit, a podcast by some guys from Major Spoilers comic book review site; NPCCast, another podcast about table-top and face-to-face games; Brian Posein's Nerd Poker, an actual play D&D podcast featuring comedian Brian Posein; 3.5 Private Sanctuary, a long-time staple of Josh's D&D podcast playlist; Fear the Boot, another established role-playing podcast; Crimson Mystical Mages, Kevin Smith's short-lived attempt at a D&D podcast; Critical Hit, a live D&D show at the Rio in Vancouver BC.

Josh plays the Mine part of Minecraft. Ryan plays Marvel Alliance Tactics. Josh and Ryan discuss the importance of writing things down and keeping statistics of stuff we all encounter as players in games. Ryan talks about how he contributes to the wikis of the games he plays, and how that's a major part of the fun of the game for him. Josh and Ryan talk about winning at video games by reading and analyzing the mechanics from outside the game. Josh and Ryan go on a tangent about the ninja turtles' various weapons, and Josh mentions the bec de corbin. And the ninja turtles take on feral robot zombie deer.