viddyviddy

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:
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.

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!

Greetings imaginary audience,

If you're hungry for more viddy (and I know you are), then step on over to

http://www.havencomics.blogspot.com/

There you can find the latest comic book releases, game days, and going-ons that are happening at the hottest geek corner of Alabama. I'll be dropping the occasional article, so check it out!

If you've been a nerd in the last ten years, you've had at least glancing contact with Penny Arcade. Rising from among the filthy, multitudinous hordes of video-game related comics, Penny Arcade laid claim to a golden dominion that continues to expand. Through their career, writer Jerry Holkins and illustrator Mike Krahulik (represented in the comics as Tycho and Gabe, respectively) have built a realm that now includes not only a brilliant comic, but several published collections of their work, a video game, a convention, and a charity that has raised magnificent amounts of money for sick children. The talent of Holkins and Krahulik have been sought after for creative advertising projects for video game releases (true), honored by the state of Washington (true), and encapsulated in a sugar-coated cereal (not true).

But now the Penny Arcade empire is complete. I present to you Downloadable Content, The Penny Arcade Podcast.

"Holkins: There is no way for us to make a comic strip where we simply name country songs and that's too bad.
Krahulik: Yeah.
Holkins: This is a case where we have been ham-strung by the medium we have chosen.
Krahulik: Yeah, people are always like, "Aw man, if you want to get popular just make a comic strip about teh [sic] video games.'"
Holkins: They don't know how we suffer!
Krahulik: They don't know that if you're making a strip about video games you can't make a strip about country music songs.
Holkins: We have got hot material! We have got hot, country song material. And there's no venue for it.

excerpt from The Broodax Imperiate

I assume the original premise of this podcast was to reveal the process through which a Penny Arcade comic is created. What has actually been brought forth is the product of what happens when you place two long-time friends in an enclosed space and force them to work towards a common goal. Usually the comic is written within the first five minutes of the podcast, the rest of the time filled with the banter of Holkins and Krahulik as they talk shop about the video game industry, share stories from their lives and insult each other only to eventually meander back to their original idea.

It is fascinating to listen to the development of each punchline. Usually inspired by a website's headline or video game related event, one of the pair will offer a rough idea, which the other will latch onto and expand until they are able to pin down their traditional three panel procedure.

"Krahulik: It's the juxtaposition-
Holkins: I know about positions!
Krahulik: Do you know about the jutx?
Holkins: The juxta?
Krahulik: Have you ever juxta a position?
Holkins: Juxta'd? Yes.
Krahulik: Cause what I'm talking about is juxting a position, in such a way-
Holkins: Yeah you know about position.
Krahulik: What I know about is juxting.

excerpt from Making an Impression, in discussion of
this comic.

Relevant Links:
Download the Podcast here
Main Website
My Favorite Comic, Ever
Store
No, wait, this is my Favorite Comic
Child's Play Charity Site

Content Rating: Explicit. You may want to point your headphones elsewhere if you cannot abide by words such as 'twat' or worse.

Average Episode Length: Podcast length ranges from 12 minutes 52 seconds at the shortest, to one hour, three minutes at the longest. All the rest fall somewhere within these two times.

Drinking Game: None that I can unearth via Google search. May exist in the Penny Arcade forums or a lost society's oral history.

Release Schedule: Whenever the hell they feel like it, apparently. Do not expect regular releases. I suggest treating each new podcast much like you would a secret whispered to you by creatures most fae. Treasure them!

Music: While actual music is non-existent, listeners are occasionally graced by the vocal talents of both hosts. Krahulik is especially talented at recreating hits from the 1980s.

Unintentionally Good Part: Holkins and Krahulik's insatiable quest to go to lunch. They are never not hungry, unless pumpkin bars (episode In the Love Nest of the Har'akki, 1:20 mark) are involved.

Unintentionally Bad Part: Should you come to enjoy this podcast, the erratic post schedule will cause you to fall to you knees and cry out mournfully.

C-C-C-COMBO PODCAST: The Adventures of Acquisitions Incorporated. What boils down to an advertising campaign for the latest edition of Dungeons and Dragons becomes a hilarious series of actual-play recordings (games sessions recorded with minimal editing) in which both Penny Arcade creators take part in. Please, please, if you have ever had a fleeting interest in D&D, listen to these so that you may be enlightened to the experience that is Jim Darkmagic.

Get to it! And leave me comments!

"From WBEZ Chicago, it's This American Life, distributed by Public Radio International, I'm Ira Glass."

The heretical, the sophisticated and the ridiculous. If a human can or has experienced it, This American Life is willing to explore any situation to find a good story to tell.

Each episode of This American Life centers around a theme and is broken into several different acts that each offer a unique point of view on that week's theme. One week's theme can be entirely devoted to a current event, only for the following week to surround the mystique of comic book culture. Previous themes include: "Classifieds", "Remember Me" and one of my favorites, "Poultry Slam." For each theme, contributions are given in the forms of interviews, short stories, investigative journalism, monologue, stand-up comedy routine or any other imaginable way that a story can be passed through your ears.

The Featured contributors run the gamut from authors such as David Sedaris, comedians including Mike Birbiglia, rabbis, bus drivers, lawyers, coaches, victims, day-dreamers and that girl you lived next to when you were in elementary school. Some contributors are erudite experts in their field, quite a few are hilarious, many are touching, all are genuine. They tell their story the way they want it to be heard, and the interpretation is left up to the listeners. When the same story is told from various points of view it becomes a strange game to try and decipher who, if anyone, is speaking the truth.

What I consider to be This American Life's most important value is its authenticity. This podcast is simply life presented in a more interesting format. The stories are incredibly engaging; as I listen at my cubical at work, I have been forced to perform the awkward and painful "silent laugh maneuver," I have clenched my iPod in anger, shaking it as I formed retorts in my mind and I have also probably made a lot of strange faces in reaction to This American Life which have disturbed my co-workers a great deal and I really should explain but then it may be easier to just remain "that girl with the headphones" rather than "that girl with the headphones who keeps talking about pods."

I believe you will also enjoy the dulcet tones of Ira Glass, host of This American Life. However, be aware that if a beloved author is a featured guest, you may be shocked by how they actually sound (I'm looking at you, David Sedaris). Be aware that your internal narrator's voice may be changed forever.

Relevant Links:
Download the Podcast here
Main website
Wikipedia Page
Store and Donation pages (you just try to ignore the pleas of Ira Glass during pledge drives, ain't gonna work)

Content Rating: Generally safe for work and all audiences with a caveat: many of the topics discussed (including religion, abortion, death, sexuality) may be considered explicit by some listeners. Also, there may be some swear words tucked into a story.

Average Episode Length: One hour.

Drinking Game: None yet invented.

Release Schedule: A new podcast is available every Monday. They do not offer an accessible archive, but previous podcasts can be purchased at their store.

Music: Non-intrusive background sound and interludes between acts, usually with some relevance to the episode's theme. I have no memory of any "bad" music occurring, and many songs played on This American Life will eventually find their way into my mp3 collection.

Unintentionally Good Part: The feeling you get from listening to NPR.

Unintentionally Bad Part: The feeling you get from listening to NPR.

How to find your NPR name:
"Take your middle initial and insert it somewhere into your first name. Then add on the smallest foreign town you've ever visited as your last name." - Jon Friedman [Originally found here].

Also: I do realize that This American Life's original format is a radio show, but hey, this is a podcast blog. So shut up.

This is a blog about podcasts.

Podcasts?

Yes, podcasts.

Um, what?

According to almighty Wikipedia, a podcast is:

"a series of visual or sound which allows files which are distributed over the computer by syndicated download, through Web feeds, to portable media players and personal computers."

All right, I'm listening.

No, you're not. And that's the problem. From what I've experienced in my attempts to share information about podcasts with friends, family, and anyone too polite to tell me to go away, is that there is an overwhelming apathy surrounding podcasts. There is a wide world of alternative media at the fingertips of anyone with a decent Internet connection and no one cares. An entire spectrum of entertaining and informative content exists, but no one can be bothered. It appears that video did indeed kill the radio star, if by radio you mean podcasts, and by video star you mean cute cat macros.

That metaphor seems to have escaped you.

Sorry. Really, all this blog is intended for is to stir up more interest in podcasts.

What do podcasts have to do with me?

Take a moment and think of your hobbies, political views, your music collect, a favorite genre of books, websites that make you laugh, the stories you love to hear. Whatever you like, however you like it, there is a podcast out there that has your interests in mind.
Tell me, what do you like?

Oh! I like cooking!

There's a podcast for you.

I enjoy learning about history. And current events. And grammar!

You've got it, nerd.

...Porn?

Is this or is this not the Internet?

Nice. So where do you come in, viddyviddy?

I'll be providing as reviews for as many podcasts as I can shove onto my iPod. The intent of this blog is to provide both the novice and well practiced podcast afficianado alike to unique, interesting, and entertaining podcasts. Let me know what interests you, and I'll try and find a podcast that can relate! Go find a podcast you like, write up a review, and I'll post it on this blog!

Seriously though, there are really porn podcasts?

Stay the hell away from my computer.
This is going to be a wonderful adventure.

This beast is going to be about podcast reviews from now on.