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  1. The Podge Cast

    Monday, February 8, 2010

    A'ight all y'all, check the following list:

    • Games
    • Anime
    • Books
    • Joss Whedon
    • Batman
    • Movies
    • Beard Growth
    If you have an interest or opinion on any of those topics, then The Podge Cast (TPC) is the podcast for you. Boasting an archive already 76 episodes deep, TPC is a one-stop shop for all your geek-related needs. Built on a strong basis of role playing game discussion and advice, the fellows at The Podge Cast refuse to let their original intent bind them to one subject, and move through subculture strata like a neutrino through plasma.

    Either that or they've just been talking for so long they've forgotten how to shut up. Both options work to provide enough hours of entertainment to satisfy you even through the most stultifying of car trips or data entry jobs.

    Relevant Links:
    Main Site
    RSS Feed
    Spooky Outhouse Forums Which hosts not only The Podge Cast's forums but a slew of other pod casts' forums that you should investigate and see if you'd like to listen to them!
    Store
    FAQ

    Behold a sample of their discussions on the dialogue of popular culture.

    "Paul: Saying something is fail, you're ruining the language and the culture and yourself.

    Matt: I dunno, one of my favorite lol captions of all time is "your shipment of fail has arrived." Can you not have an actual world term to describe the shipment of an abstract concept?

    Paul: You can but its stupid because when people say something's epic it's always like: "Oh dude, Dave did a keg stand and puked all over it was epic." Or, "I just tripped up the stairs, it was fail."

    Matt: It's like spices, you put in a little bit of pepper, little paprika it makes everything lovely and delicious. But if it's all pepper all the time you'd be like, "Man, this soup is FAIL!"

    David: And that's because it's not soup, it's a pile of pepper!

    The Podge Cast is hosted by a regular-ish (occasionally rotated or replaced) crew of card-carrying nerds. There's:

    Luke, an optometrist who runs tabletop games when he's not defending the eyesight of the masses.

    David who-oh hell, one of the running jokes with TPC is the fact that Luke is the "fan favorite" so I'll just go with it. The core hosts, as well as the rotating cast of visiting hosts will be sure to please with their insights and comedic timing. The friendly banter between hosts is one of the best parts of the whole show.

    Content Rating: Clean-ish. For regular episodes the major curse words are edited out and explicit shows are clearly labeled as such. However, topics can include topics of a less-than-G-rated nature, so be aware of your surroundings if you choose to listen with speakers.

    Average Episode Length:
    Vaguely fifty minutes long. Time is dependent on the nature and hosts' interests in the episode's topic.

    As well as providing weekly content, did I mention that they run several contests a year? Most of their prize support is pretty awesome and the contests are usually easy to enter.

    "David: What I was thinking is if they remove my appendix I'm going to ask for it and give it away as a contest prize.
    Drinking Game: A quick forum search brings up nothing, but here's a start-
    Take a drink:
    • for every mention of a ghost hunter show.
    • when David repeats the joke he just heard while laughing at said joke.
    • each time Luke sings.
    Quick Play Rules: Listen to the early episodes, and take a shot every time the RPG system Burning Wheel is mentioned. You will have alcohol poisoning within the half-hour.

    Release Schedule: Weekly, avaliable for download on Sunday.

    Music: Just the opening and ending song. However, the ending song is sung by Luke, adding a certain level of class to this podcast.

    Unintentionally Good Part:
    A series within the podcast titled "Campaign Recap: Kingdom, the Next Generation." These eleven episodes are comprised of a retelling of the Burning Wheel campaign Luke runs for a group of friends. The recordings are basically plot summaries of each game session, and end up sounding like a high-fantasy fairy tale. If you enjoy RPGs, then this is an interesting look into the Burning Wheel system. If you don't like RPGs, then you can just sit and listen to the story of the House of Van Lieber. Come for the in-depth story telling, stay to discover the true beauty of decapitating your enemies.

    Unintentionally Bad Part:
    WARNING: NERD RAGE AHEAD
    I almost hate to do this, but here goes: don't, flat out just don't listen to episodes 49 and 50. They are un-episodes. Long story short, Luke and David stage a building level of antagonism between each other which culminates in Luke storming out of their studio after a particularly sharp insult from David. The episode ends with no explanation given. I found the entire thing extremely awkward to listen to and was left uncomfortable for the whole day by the episode, having listened to two close friends argue like that.

    You see what's coming, right? The whole thing was fake. Fake! They even had another podcast (The Bear Swarm!, who doesn't get a link because they were accomplices in this) brought it up as if it were a real event. Obviously I totally fell for it and am holding a grudge, but hey, I writes the podcast reviews, I says what I wants.

    Adding insult to the injury of episode 49, episode 50 is an obnoxious parody staged by the hosts of some other podcast (they don't even get a name mention) which I got through about...oh, twenty seconds before I had to take my headphones off.
    END NERD RAGE

    My vitriolic rant aside, this podcast is pretty damn excellent, and I'm sure the hosts would love it if you check it out. So go get an earful!

  2. 7 comments:

    1. Unknown said...

      Wow, thanks for the awesome write up!

      You're not alone - episodes 49 & 50 are the two biggest complaints we've ever gotten about the show, bar none.

    2. Anonymous said...

      I love the Podgecast like a long lost child returned to my bosom just as I was told it was lost forever. Luke, Adam, Matt, Paul, and other guests remind me so much of sitting around with my own friends and shooting the breeze that it fills that hole when I'm NOT around my friends shooting the breeze. Episodes 49 and 50 traumatized me only because I went through the loss of Adam and Luke both from a previous podcast. Once I realized it was staged though I had a chuckle and moved on. One thing I CANNOT abide though was Joe on the cast. Nothing against the guy he just wasn't my cup of tea at all and almost made me stop listening early on.

    3. viddyviddy said...

      @Adam Pinilla

      I-wha-ffff-Podge Cast host commenting on my lil' blog? Please insert a squeal of joy here!

      I'm glad you liked it, you guys provide a great podcast and I want to get other people to listen in! I'm almost certainly going to be reviewing other Spooky Outhouse podcasts as well so as to spread

      [And please don't take my kvetching about 49 & 50 too seriously. I just hated the idea of TPC having drama between such good friends, and I am also terribly gullible.]

      @sirguido
      "Luke, Adam, Matt, Paul, and other guests remind me so much of sitting around with my own friends and shooting the breeze that it fills that hole when I'm NOT around my friends shooting the breeze."
      Well said.

      I actually discovered TPC before realizing that Luke and Adam/David had previous podcast experience. It was odd to listen to their previous podcasting work after they had already left that group.

    4. Joe said...

      Agreed, great show with the best geek banter in RPG-Podcasting. New hosts Paul and Eric have brought teh show to the next level. Smart, interesting hosts, good topics, and a general air of fun and accessibility. Like FTB of old, these guys remind you of your own best time with friends in a gaming group.

    5. Unknown said...

      Heh, I actually enjoy interacting with people, but in the wide expanse of the tubez, there are a lot of things I miss. Thank Google Alerts (or Wordpress' trackback feature, one of the two).

      49 & 50 are our biggest complainted episodes. If that's the biggest complaint, then I can CERTAINLY live with that.

      Let me know if you need some inside scoops on the SOP shows. ;)

    6. Paul said...

      "Complainted." Adam, are you drunk?

    7. viddyviddy said...

      @Adam

      Tell me the secret weaknesses of each Bear Swarm! host ;)