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  1. Boner City USA

    Friday, March 22, 2013


    “No good at life, but very funny sometimes with the commentary.”
    ― Kurt Vonnegut


    Oh, Reader.  The things I do for you.

    I've provided you with plenty of reviews in the past, haven't I?  But it's never been enough.  Every(ish) week I'm forced to head out into the depths of the Internet, armed with my machete and one of those neat pith hats, to retrieve a new podcast that I can in turn share with you.  This process has led me to many different destinations and while most of them have been good, fun places with clean bathrooms, some of them are beyond the realm of safe listening.

    There are podcasts out there that are deeper, darker depths than my headphones were meant to travel through.  We're talking "Heart of Darkness" deep, here.

    Do you remember reading that story in high school?  No?  Well trust me, it fits.

    Let me apologize for reviewing Boner City USA.  

    Relevant Links:
    Main Site!
    Get the podcast through iTunes!
    Get the podcast for other ways to listen that aren't iTunes!
    Store, complete with rad t-shirts!

    Content Rating:  EXPLICIT.  Explicit, explicit, expliciiiiiiiit!  I know I've tagged many, many other podcasts as explicit before but this time I MEAN IT.  For the sake of not violating Blogger's "no porn" rule, I am not even going to pull quotes from the podcast.

    [I like to sing the word 'explicit' to the tune of that "Tradition" song from Fiddler on the Roof.  EXPLICIIIIIT!  EXPLICIT!]

    Average Episode Length:  About an hour?  Long enough, trust me.

    Drinking Game:  Pick 3-5 bottles out of your liquor cabinet at random.  Mix them all together, and then drink until you are able to speak freely about all the unspeakable things you've done in the past.  

    Release Schedule:  At least twice a week.

    Boner City USA is a comedy podcast hosted by comedians Andrew DewittDan BialekJeff Danis and Ryan O’Neill in which they discuss the day’s pressing issues in the smartest dumbest way possible.
    Maybe I'm being a bit dainty about Boner City USA.  I mean, this is the Internet, right?  If you want G Rated material, there are plenty of places to seek it out, and if you want the NC-17 rated stuff then it is certainly out there in equal (if not greater) measure.  So let me try and talk about this podcast while avoiding the fact that it is so vulgar I can't listen to it at work and I use headphones.

    Boner City USA is schadenfreude in audio format. The four hosts are shameless in their discussions of their lives and will share every embarrassing facet of human existence that they have run across.  Stories involve childhood near death experiences with grain silos, interactions at the YMCA, and every aspect of dating and interpersonal relationships that you can imagine.  They'll probably even talk about a few that you haven't thought up.

    The podcast is brutally honest and brutally hilarious.  Four comedians spilling their guts out and arguing with one other turns out some pretty funny conversations, and you may not want to be driving or using a knife to chop veggies when you listen.

    Music:  I think they pick whatever songs they like for the intro/outro.

    Unintentionally Good Part:  I like that they assign themselves jobs/titles within the realm of Boner City.

    Unintentionally Bad Part:  It is super-awkward to try and share this podcast with someone else.  No one seems to be prepared for what comes out of the speakers when I play episodes for them.

    Unrelated rating:  Two free t-shirts out of three.  By the way, when I reviewed another Dorksplosion network podcast, Gamedians, they sent me 3 free t-shirts from their store!  That is offically the most I have ever been "paid" for running this blog.  I can say that the shirts are comfy and high-quality.  Haven't found the right venue to wear the Boner City USA shirt to, but who knows what will happen in the future.

  2. Lemme tangent on this blog for a second.

    As you know, I like to use this blog as a way to express my enjoyment of things, mainly podcasts, as a way of hopefully getting other people to enjoy those podcasts. 

    This is not a post about a podcast.  In fact, it is a post about a thing that is still being made!  Like a tectonic plate beneath your feet it is shifting, moving, becoming something awesome like a mountain or the Mariana Trench.  This is a post about a documentary called STRIPPED.  It is about comics, it looks like it is going to be awesome, and it needs your help.

    What is STRIPPED?  From their Kickstarter page:

    STRIPPED is a love-letter to comic strips.  It brings together the world’s best cartoonists to talk about the art form they love, and what happens to it as newsprint fades away. Over 90 interviews were conducted, including the first-ever audio interview with Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes), as well as Jim Davis (Garfield), Cathy Guisewite (Cathy), Mort Walker (Beetle Bailey), Mike & Jerry (Penny Arcade), Matt Inman (The Oatmeal), Jeff Keane (The Family Circus), Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics), Lynn Johnston (FBOFW), Zach Weiner (SMBC), Scott Kurtz (PvP), Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics), Richard Thompson (Cul de Sac), Jeph Jacques (Questionable Content), Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine), Bill Amend (Foxtrot), Kate Beaton (Hark! A Vagrant) and more. STRIPPED sits down with these creators to talk about how cartooning works, why it's so loved, and how they're navigating this dicey period between print and digital options...when neither path works perfectly.

    Does that whet your interest?  How about a trailer:



    I've been reading comics since I achieved literacy.  I would read my Mom's Bloom County collections before I understood the jokes and the funny pages were the only part of the Sunday comic I cared about.  Now I have over a dozen webcomics that I currently read.  When I'm not reading webcomics, I hang out at a comic book store (which is a different thing than strip-format comics, yes, but let me have the connection). 

    Comics are rad, and learning about the history of comics via a documentary made by people intensely passionate about comics is going to be beyond-rad.  Meet the dudes at the helm of this creation:

    - Fred Schroeder is a twice-Sundance-nominated film-maker. His IMDB credits can be seen here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0775480/
    - Dave Kellett is a twice-Eisner-nominated cartoonist. His strips can be seen here: http://www.sheldoncomics.com and here: http://www.drivecomic.com
    - Sequential Films is their LA-based film company, which sounds hoity-toity but really it’s just two dudes in a garage.
    The STRIPPED documentary is nearing completion, but Schroeder and Kellet are reaching for the stars with licensed media that pushes past their current funding.  If this catches your interest, you still have time to get in on the STRIPPED Kickstarter and make this thing even better! 

    THEY HAVE AN INTERVIEW WITH BILL WATTERSON HOW COULD YOU NOT BE INTO THAT????????!?!?!?!?

    Check out the Kickstarter and throw in ya cash if it moves you.  As always, thanks for reading.

  3. Become a Beast

    Friday, March 1, 2013

    Your body is a chunk of marble.
    What do you want to chisel it into?

    Relevant Links:
    Twitter!
    Facebook!
    Become a Beast Site!

    A Beast is an individual who achieves their physical apex through a balanced diet, focused exercise, and the desire to fulfill the opportunity they were given with their physical body.
    Host David Damron wants you to reach the apex of your own physical form.  The kind of physical form where you think about walking in front of your open living room windows in your swim shorts, just to give your neighbors the opportunity to gaze at your perfect body.  Damron wants you to succeed in all your "I wish I could look like that dreams" without going to unhealthy extremes, or developing a negative view of your "current" body.  I'll be the first to admit that I resemble more of a Krispy Kreme doughnut than one of those dudes who perform terrifying pommel horse routines, but if I were to ever attempt to emerge, like a butterfly, from my deep-fried cocoon, I'd be okay with this guy as the motivational voice in my head.

    The podcast's tone is encouraging, calm, and casual.  Become a Beast is there for beginners and those who are already on their journey to swole.  This podcast manages to find the right way to offer advice without becoming overwhelming or obnoxious.  Become a Beast isn't here to make fun of how few pushups you can do, it is there to clap you on the back for trying and offer a few tips on how to improve for the next attempt. 

    Content RatingClean, mean and 97% lean. 

    Average Episode Length

    Drinking Game:  Hm, should I really suggest a drinking game for a healthy lifestyles podcast?  Okay, um, let's see.  Oh!  Here we go, I have an idea:
    1. Decide to have a smoothie.  Smoothies are delicious.
    2. Pick one fruit you really like and one fruit you really dislike.
    3. Make a list of the exercises you need to complete.  For every minute/rep/whatever of exercise you complete, you get x% of your favorite fruit in the smoothie.  For every minute/rep/whatever you skip, you have to put in an equal amount of the nasty tasting, but healthy, fruit you dislike.
    4. Make and consume smoothie, literally tasting either your own victory or defeat.

    Release Schedule: Looks like you get at least one new episode every week.


    Unintentionally Good Part: When Damron is sweetly demure in an attempt to describe Body Glide, which a balm he suggests for marathon runners.  Cause, y'know, bits chafe.
     
    Unintentionally Bad Part:  Much of the advice given is wholly anecdotal.  This is not a true negative per se, as none of the guests or the host pretend that they are doctors or act like their word is truth but I feel like I had to mention that in this podcast so nobody throws themselves into some exercise routine that hurts them. 

    And I mean, he does an episode on how lifting free weights will help you in a zombie apocalypse. 

    On the whole, Become a Beast has guests, stories, and lots of advice to be offered.  The episodes are relevant to what I'd say most people's interests are, including things like how to get back into a healthy routine after you've been sick.  Give it a listen and see if you get inspired to dust off that old gym membership that you've been paying for all these months and never using. 

    Unrelated rating:  Two of those YouTube clips of people breaking their limbs lifting weights out of four.