viddyviddy

This is Irregular.  Irregular is an irregularly produced podcast focusing on irregular conversations with irregular people.

I think we can all agree that mocking things is the best, right?  Nothing makes you feel better than cutting someone else down and the anonymity of the Internet makes is incredibly easy for people to post things that you can subsequently laugh at.  

Hm.  I probably should have watched more Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood when I was little.  Too late!

But what if, on the rare occasion that you have to catch your breath because you're laughing so hard at someone, you decided to let them have their say on the matter?  And what if you actually found them interesting and with their own, mostly valid opinion?  Then you'd have the Irregular Podcast.

Relevant Links:
The Irregular Podcast Website!
iTunes! Which only has the first episode available, so check out...
Download through Feedburner!  ..which also only has the first episode.

Just listen to it through the site, okay?

Content Rating:  Explicit.  SERIOUSLY.  The first episode is called "Kindleporn Authors" so you can take that a guidelines as to whether or not you'd be comfortable listening to this podcast.

"It's a Strategically Placed Hole."

Average Episode Length:  Arrrrrrround an hourrrrrrr long.

Drinking Game:  Go on to Amazon.com.  Buy one of the good books that I've listed for you on the side of this review, then go click around the Kindle selections.  First time you find a book title that makes you recoil from your computer monitor, go get a drink.

ALWAYS THE WEREWOLVES!

Release Schedule:  Please see the podcast title.

Music:  L'Aguardiente by Camper Van Beethoven.

The previously reviewed, and much-beloved-by-me podcast The F Plus has stepped out beyond their towering empire of delightfully bizarre and hilarious forums readings to hear what the people they've made fun of have to say.  Hosts Lemon and Boots Raingear step into new territory as they invite members of subcultures to step up to the mic and explain what they're all about.

[Spoiler:  the wackadoos in every subculture are in the extreme minority, which means that the large majority are just peeps that happen to like things like Underwater Boggle or Sheep Organization.]

The Irregular Podcast provides you with interviews from a handful of people that participate in weird things.  The tone of the interviews are... semi-earnest explorations of other people's interests.  The hosts are more than happy to joke around with their guests, and the guests are congenial and do their best to answer the questions put forth.  The dialogue is interesting and while you may not come out of each episode with a greater appreciation for your fellow man, you'll have gotten an episode's worth of entertainment.  

Unintentionally Good Part:  When the guests catch the hosts off guard.

Unintentionally Bad Part:  The little player that pops up from the site is frustrating to move back and forth along the timeline, which makes it hard to replay funny quotes for a podcast review.

Unrelated rating:  Four reposts out of five.

That's not a book cover, that's a t-shirt!

Simply put: cool physics and other sweet science.

Science!  Say it aloud, and with some gusto:  SCIENCE!  Science is real, and it's spectacular.  

It is also confusing when you try and learn about how scientific processes process.  Sure, I've made a Punnett square or two, put some Mentos in some Diet Coke to learn about nucleation, and when I'm bored I spend my time in Wikipedia looking up civilian radiation accidents because they're fascinating in a horrific way.  

So what do you do when you want to understand a scientific theory that is pretty deep?  The kind of thing that takes a Masters degree and a graphic calculator to get a grip on?  You could give up and go bake cookies, or you could watch the Minute Physics podcast.

Relevant Links:
iTunes download link!
Minute Physics YouTube Channel
Store!
Wikipedia Page
Twitter
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, which sponsors Minute Physics

Full disclosure:  this is a video podcast!  Quelle suprise, I know!  In fact, this is the first video podcast that I've ever reviewed!  I really like audio podcasts for the sheer fact that they don't need to be watched to get the full content.  That being said, I really enjoy watching episodes of Minute Physics and wanted to share it with you.

So I am.

So there.  Geez, mom.  

"Host" Henry Reich has a lot of markers, an understanding of quantum physics, and a desire to share his knowledge with the world.


Content Rating:  Clean for everyone who exists in the third dimension (that's you).

Average Episode Length:  The show is called Minute Physics, isn't it?  One or two minutes tops for most episodes.

Drinking Game:  And excerpt from Supermasterpiece.com:

Quantum Physics Drinking Game

Whenever the mere fact that you are observing a phenomenon causes a series of potentialities to resolve into one actuality, chug a beer.

That'll work just fine.


Release Schedule:  Looks like there is a new episode each week, although no new episodes in the iTunes list since December of 2012. 

Music:  Not in particular.

Unintentionally Good Part:  The little cat that shows up in the illustrations.

Unintentionally Bad Part:  This podcast is just a port of the YouTube episodes, so there's no real advantage to subscribing to it via a podcast subscription over a YouTube subscription.

Oh, also I have to watch the episodes a lot of times because of my tiny brain. 

Unrelated rating:  Five Higgs bosons out of five.

Go forth, watch and listen!  Let me know what you think of it in the comments!

Space:  the final frontier.  Uh, something about the Enterprise... prime directive... that one episode with tribbles...

Huh, I thought I knew more of the Star Trek intro.  Oh well!  Can I repair my geek cred if I admit I still know the DuckTales theme (a-whoo-ooh)?

Anyways, the point I'm trying to make is that the whole "boldly going where no man has gone before thing" is a fascinating aspect of science.  NASA is often at the fore of such exploratory projects, and over the years has, to put it mildly, done some rad stuff.

Send a satellite hurling through the void of space with a golden record affixed to it so that we might make contact with our future Alien Overlords?  DONE.

Strap humans on top of enormous fuel tanks with wings so that they might shake off the bonds of earth and go hop around on the moon?  DONE.

Pester Mars incessantly with rovers?  YOU BETCHA.

Turns out when they're not busy mocking gravity, NASA finds the time for podcasting.   They have several podcasts to offer, but I'll be focusing on the "omnibus" podcast, NASA - This Week @NASA.

Here's where I need that sound effect from old news reels that goes 'deet-deet-de-deet-de-dee-deet"

This week at NASA [swooshing space noise]...

Relevant Links:
Main podcast website
Download via iTunes
@NASA on Twitter
NASA facts!

Ooh, there's a podcast about the Hubble telescope?  Neat!

Content Rating:  So clean you could build scientific instruments in it.

Average Episode Length:  About nine and half minutes by the looks of the episodes I have downloaded.  It's like getting a postcard from spaaaaaaaace!

Drinking Game:  Get drunk quick version:  drink every time they mention something that is currently not on Earth.  For the slower version, only drink when said non-Earthbound object is controlled by a foreign country. 

Release Schedule:  Weekly, with a new episode every Friday.

You get to hear about what the Curiosity rover is up to, what's going on in NASA overall, what will be going on in NASA eventually, and you get to hear phrases like-

Using Dexter, a two armed Canadian robot on the station...

There's going to be a little nugget of information that you'll find interesting in every episode.

Music:  A little intro beep-boop, a little outro beep-boop music.  Not much to speak of here.

Unintentionally Good Part:  The short length is just right.  If a particular topic catches your interest, you can find another podcast that goes into more depth, but this overall summary of what's going on with NASA fits your ears just right.

Unintentionally Bad Part:  I am not an astronaut, and this saddens me.

Unrelated rating: Three Space Food Sticks out of three.

[HA!  Did you know that the crew of Gemini III snuck a corned beef sandwich on board?  They got reprimanded for it.]
 

Your Walt Disney World Information Station!

Let me make sure we get one thing straight from the start of this review, dear reader:  people lose their damn minds over anything Disney.  Now, I thoroughly celebrate the majority of the Disney catalog what with the movies (Sleeping Beauty is a favorite), the charming commercials, and that one run of shows on TGIF where everyone went to Walt Disney World and Uncle Joey got to be in the Indian Jones Experience and the guys from Family Matters blew all their money on some ladies. 

...I actually remember plot lines from TGIF?  Ugh.

ANYWAYS, I enjoy Disney and all of their delightful licensed products in my life.  When I was little I dressed up as Peter Pan for Halloween and had a great time when I went to Walt Disney World a few years ago.  As far as I knew you showed up at whatever theme park you wanted, bought some tickets, went on some rides, and went home.  That was the Disney experience, right?

Reader, I had no idea how deep the rabbit hole went.  Did you know Disney hosts marathons?  Food and Wine festivals?  Can you recall the etiquette for trading pins with cast members?  What do you know about the origins of The Carousel of Progress?  Did you ride the Fort Wilderness Railroad?

Apparently, the answer to all of that is yes!  Little did I know how many people held a deep knowledge of all this Disney close to their hearts!  What I always thought of as a distant temptation of my vacation time is a year-round passion for lots of people, and there is a huge information network to support all of the news that surrounds the theme parks.  One does not simply ride into Tomorrowland.

Which is why you need a guide, which is why I wouldn't be surprised if you already listen to WDW Radio Show.


Relevant Links:
WDW Radio Show main site
Lou's Twitter
Subscribe via iTunes
WDW Disney Radio Forums
WDW Shop, which features Disney walking tours of various areas in the parks.


Louis A. Mongello, or just call him Lou, has got Disney in his heart and he will share it with you for as long as you are willing to listen.  Behind the scene facts!  Trivia!  Fascinating details of the park!  He'll answer your questions and ask you why you aren't currently listening to WDW Radio from a Disney theme park this very minute!

WDW Radio covers pretty much any information you'd ever want about the Disney empire.  The most useful portion of it might be his vacation planning information on how to make the best of both time and money at the parks.  Considering the fact that this podcast is sponsored by TouringPlans.com it isn't too far of a stretch to say that this is a great tool if you're planning a trip.  Lou covers attractions for kids, families, honeymooners, couples, and the lone ranger of the Orlando frontier.  

Content Rating:  Clean, although I am kind of delighted by the idea of an explicit Disney-based podcast.  I got your Mickey Mouse right here, pal!

Average Episode Length:  These episode lengths are just all over the place!  Anywhere from over an hour to a touch over nine minutes is what I see at a glance. 

Drinking Game:  I found one for EPCOT and it has a scorecard and everything!


And since I just spent 15 minutes reading through it, enjoy Drinking Disney as well.  

Release Schedule:  Weekly. 

Music:  Clips and sounds from various Disney movies and attractions are used, and Lou invites listeners to guess their source.  There is also a nice little a capella intro, which I like. 

Unintentionally Good Part:  If you have fond Disney memories, this podcast is sure to stir them up. 

Unintentionally Bad Part:  I find it odd that Disney fanatics can both see the man behind the curtain, and still be awe of the great and powerful Wizard.  I guess it is a testament to the power of Disney magic that fans can both be aware of the gears and bolts that make up the machine, and still enjoy it for the sense of wonder and imagination it was intended to portray.   


Unrelated rating:  I would totally listen to this podcast while riding the PeopleMover ( or Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover if you so please) for at least 2 hours.  I love that ride.

As reader(s) of this review site know, I like to give goofy introductions to podcasts.  Well, consider this a break in the trend and observe this beautifully succinct description from Clarkesworld Podcast:

The Clarkesworld Podcast features all of our fiction in audio form. Each episode is hosted by Kate Baker and features an original story from our current issue. By visiting this page, you can sign up to have each episode sent to you via iTunes or email. Best of all, we offer this service completely free of charge.

Clarkesworld Magazine, purveyors of excellent science fiction and fantasy stories, has produced Clarkesworld Podcast which transposes those science fiction and fantasy stories into an audio format for your enjoyment.

Simple, elegant, and practically begging for you to give a little listen.  

Relevant Links:
Clarkesworld Magazine Main Site
Clarkesworld Podcast Main Site
Get a Clarkesworld Magazine Subscription in both digital and physical versions!
Donate or buy an Anthology!


Content Rating:  Caution suggested.  Writers are a wanton lot, and a prone to write about things that an earnest soul might not find suitable for their delicate senses.  Things like procreation.  Terrible, I know!

Average Episode Length:  An average taken from the last ten episodes shows a running time of approximately thirty minutes.  There are some episodes that last over an hour and some that run under twenty minutes.

Drinking Game:  Ooh, toughie.  Go figure, but there aren't a lot of book/short story related drinking games (other than my favorite, a novel little pastime called "drinking alone while reading").  However, the Internet has provided me with this delightful Dune-based drinking game.  If you're truly hardcore, you'll play through the full duration of the audiobook.

Release Schedule:  Per the Clarkesworld website, "A new episode is added to our site on the 1st, 14th and 21st of each month."

Unintentionally Good Part:  Sometimes when a line from a story is read aloud, and read aloud well, there is a spark in that and it can be a beautiful thing.  It will catch you off guard, as it has caught me. 

Unintentionally Bad Part:  This is a podcast that requires my full attention.  I cannot listen to it at work!  I could probably manage to fold socks as best, because I don't want to miss any details or dialogue. 

Unrelated rating:  Two of of three of the Laws of Robotics.

Please, allow Kate Baker the opportunity to read you a story.  Let her read you several stories.  There's not much more I can say beyond that to entice you. 

Here's the long and short of it:  Greg Proops is funny, he has a podcast, and he is funny on the podcast.  I am on the opinion that you should download this aforementioned podcast, listen to it, and enjoy the comedic stylings of the also aforementioned comedian Greg Proops.

...what, you want more information?  Fine.  Have it your way, like always!



Relevant Links:
Get the podcast through Libsyn!
Or perhaps you would prefer to get an App through iTunes!
Tumblr!
RSS!

Comedian Greg Proops is smarter than you.

Here's why you want to listen to The Smartest Man in the World:

1. Greg Proops addresses his audience as "kittens" and you know you want in on that.
2. If you are unable to have access to comedy clubs this podcast will give you a chance to listen to a standup comedian perform before a live audience.
3. The Smartest Man in the World has a hefty run time per episode.
4. Because The Smartest Man in the World is performed before a live audience, that hefty run time is lean and mean with no boring filler.
5. I have laughed aloud (or "laughed out loud" as the kids say it these days) and that's got to be a good sign right there I-tell-you-whut.
6.  The podcast is free!  That is always a reason to listen to a podcast.

Greg Proops!  He travels the world to make with the laughs!  Then he records his live performances and that, as far as I understand, is how The Smartest Man in the World came into being.  I first saw Greg Proops back in the days when I would record funny tidbits on television through the magic of my VCR.

[Kids, this was back in the day when we didn't have your fancy torrents and your precious Napsters.  If you wanted to watch an illegally copied episode of your precious animes you had to pray you knew someone with one of those special VCRs that could run two tapes at once!  Those were dark days, my friends.  You should crawl underneath your desk and kiss your CAT5 cable in gratitude right now.]


Content Rating:  Explicit and flagrant about it.  In my personal realm of what I will tolerate and what I will not in regards to vulgarity I find that the Proopcast don't bother none.  That being said, I would suggest a pair of headphones to use if you are going to be listening in mixed company or at work.

 The men in the crowd look at me and go "I wish I was a nasal, effeminate guy from San Francisco!" and the women look at me and think "I wish my boyfriend was a nasal, effeminate guy from San Francisco!"

Average Episode Length:  Ugh, effort.  The majority of episodes are well over an hour long while remaining under two hours in length.  Somewhere in between 60 minutes and 120 minutes lies the average episode length.  Close your eyes and take a guess!  Seventy-eight minutes?  Sure, sounds great.

Drinking Game:  Take a drink whenever:

• Greg refers to the audience as "kittens"
• A historical fact is mentioned
• A former president is discussed
• Who's Line is it Anyways is brought up

Release Schedule:  Weekly, with the release on Monday.

Music: There is just a pinch of music in The Smartest Man in the World aka Proopcast which is a snazzy little tune for the intro and outro.

If I had any sense of smell, or I could hear, or I could see I wouldn't have this job.  I would be a cheese taster in Provence, I really would, my name would be Jabert and I would be insufferable.  "This morbier hasn't aged enough, I can't believe you have the inconsideration and gall to put it on a cracker and give it to me.  Look at the veins on it, they're paltry!"

Unintentionally Good Part:  You can learn things while listening!  That whole The Smartest Man in the World title ain't just for show!  Greg often enjoys sharing historical facts with the audience.

"But ViddyViddy," you say, "He has a personal bias in the information he presents!"

"Yes," I will reply.  "That is a true fact."

Still, all the stories he brings up are interesting, and perhaps they will spur you on to learn more all on your own!

Unintentionally Bad Part:  Greg Proops is unabashedly to the left of American politics, and often brings up his viewpoints during The Smartest Man in the World.  This is not an inherently bad thing, and I would say this regardless of what part of the political spectrum a person lands on.  What makes this potentially bad is if you try to listen to this in, say, a six hour car ride with someone else where the other passenger disagrees with his viewpoints. 

Actually, that's okay too!  Nobody has to agree with everything they hear.  The potentially bad part comes along where the other person decides that you need to hear why they disagree and are inherently correct in their opinion and then you might try and drive off a cliff to get them to stop talking.  A man can only take so much.

Unrelated rating: Two fictional ocelots out of two. 

SCENARIO:  You find yourself in the Perfect Kitchen with every conceivable tool, recipe, and ingredient that you would ever need or want.  There is a magic pantry filled with every spice the natural world has to offer, lots of those weird molecular gastronomy devices, a collection of pans that would make Julia Child weep, and even those awesome little lychee candies from the Asian market by my house. With enough time and effort you could make ANYTHING YOU WANT with the added guarantee that it will turn out perfectly.

What do you do?

That's right!  You order take-out. WAY too much effort, amirite?

I love to cook, but I'm one of the first to admit that sometimes you just want someone else to cook the damn meal. Maybe you don't even want to get your own dishes dirty!

So you go out to eat. But then THAT takes effort!  Where do you go? How do you know it will be good?  What should you wear?  Who will shovel the food into your gaping maw?





It may be too late for some lost souls, but the LA Foodie podcast is here to light the path to deliciousness* **.

*Granted your path takes you through the state of California.
** Huh, deliciousness is a word recognized by Firefox?  I learned something new today.


Relevant Links:
Welcome page for those new to LA Foodie!
LA Foodie Main Site!
LA Foodie Podcast!
Store with Cute T-Shirts!
Twitter!
aaaaand their Pinterest board (??? that is the right term, yes?) because all the kids have them these days. 

Hosts Drew Hubbard, Ben Waters a hella (hecka? I'm trying to adopt the lingo for this review) lot of other contributors work their artisan baked buns off to bring you the whole of the LA Foodie online content, podcast included. It is their mission to endlessly taunt you with descriptions of food-type items until you are forced to go out and try them all.

We're looking for the best food in LA and usually finding it.

The tone of LA Foodie is casual with lots of humor, but they do remember to offer up plenty of informative reviews about what they've been eating.  I am not familiar with food reviews, so I don't know if there is any particular expected format to compare LA Foodies' reviews to, but here's what they will deliver:

1. They will tell you about a food.  If the food is not a national brand that can be found at any grocery store, they will give you the location where the food can be procured.  The place where the food will be procured will also be described so you can learn about their decor, seating, how they present their food experience and such.
2. Said food will be described.  If the serving method is interesting they will describe that along with texture, flavor, and enjoyment of the food in question.
3. Hosts will then go on to talk about the food for a while.  At the end of their discussion you will be able to tell whether or not the food is worth attempting to procure for yourself.

Trust me on this, all right?  It is interesting and you will be drooling by the end of each episode. 

Content Rating:  Explicit and tagged as so in iTunes.  Be forewarned that the humor often goes blue.  Nothing that has scorched my ears yet, just be aware that you might want to slap headphones on if you listen at work. 

"This was in my mouth, it's going in yours."

Average Episode Length:  The smallest "mini-episode" clock in at about 4 minutes, while their longest recording stands at one hour and ten minutes (with a few seconds tacked on).  Most of their episodes fall around 45-ish minutes.  Accurate, am I not?

"Just want to say I referred to my forty ounce as a palate cleanser, that's probably the only time in history that's happened."

Drinking Game:  Allow me to make my own contribution by showing you this article on the best bars in LA with drinking games!  For the "at-home" version, I suggest that you seek out some sort of local beer/wine/soda/caramel sauce to enjoy as you listen to the podcast.  Review whatever you are drinking, aloud, to your pets.

Release Schedule:  Twice a month!

LA Foodie even has segments!  Here are a few of my favorites:


Music:  It's good!  I can't think of the genre of music they use to break up their segments, but it is the kind that makes you hum "buh-duh-duh-daaaaaaa-la! La! La! La-dee-duh-daaaaaaah-aah!"

Unintentionally Good Part:  An entire podcast about food in which the hosts and guests will consume food for review during the podcast and there are NO EATING SOUNDS.  A+++++, will listen again.  I have been forced to turn off and unsubscribe from a podcast before due to the heinous act of purposefully chewing into a mic.   I find that incredibly disrespectful to the listening audience, so I am please to announce that LA Foodie hosts handle themselves well.  Manners, yo, they matter.

[Addendum:  Yes, I am completely insane about the sound of people chewing.  CLOSE.  YOUR.  MOUTH.  YOU.  SLATTERN.  Ugh, disgusting!  Okay, I'm over it for the moment.]

Unintentionally Bad Part:  Unless you live near LA and the surrounding area where LA Foodie reviews eateries, you are going to get hungry with no outlet to feed yourself with the delicious foods they are describing.  The part of the nation I live in is desperately lacking in adorable food trucks. 

Care to try a free sample?:  Discover LA Foodie as I did, through this delightful mini-episode.  It is a very good representative of the podcast as a whole. 

Unrelated rating:  1200% of your daily sodium intake.