Heyheyhey. Idea! I'm going to review Ten Minute Podcast in
TEN MINUTES.
Great right? Lemme type out the categories (and the links, because c'mon, give me a chance) and let's see how far I can get.
Will Sasso (MADtv, The Three Stooges)!
Chris D'Elia (Whitney, Glory Daze)!
and Bryan Callen (The Hangover, The Hangover Part II)!
Together, they made a podcast! For some reason that I am not entirely sure of at the moment. Freshly made this February, the fellas have been steadily building up an archive of funny blather for you to listen to.
Bryan Callen: One's got long hair, the other no hair, they're my friends for life-
Chris D'Elia: -what does the hair have to do with it-
Bryan Callen: Chris wears glasses even though he doesn't need them~
- Bryan Callen "singing" the end song.
Average Episode Length: For once, a podcast appears to be taking the act of mentioning its length in the title seriously (looking at you Paul & Storm). Dead on ten minutes!
Music: There is an intro song, and a nonspecific end song.
Content Rating: Explicit and tagged as such in iTunes. The topics can jump to places you don't expect, so if you're some sort of 1920s school marm, this might be 2 HAWT TO HANDLE. The rest of us will be fine.
Bryan Callen: You are Samoan.
Will Sasso: I'm not Samoan.
Unintentionally Good Thing: Bryan Callen singing along to the end song music.
Unintentionally Bad Thing: This podcast is focused like an arrow. That has no feathers on the end to guide its flight. And it's made of Jell-o instead of wood. Aaaand instead of an arrowhead, there's a marshmallow Peeps somehow adhered to the Jell-o.
_______________
Time! Okay, well, there you go! Ten Minute Podcast sure is a podcast, and this sure was a review.
GO LISTEN TO SOMETHING.
I HAD TWO SODAS TODAY, THAT IS TWO MORE THAN I AM ALLOWED
One of my favorite things about audio podcasts is their ability to allow me to multitask while enjoying them. I can do chores, drive, work, shower (iPod outside the shower), and pretend that I'm actually writing and not looking at Tumblr all while listening to a podcast! They're great that way! It's a very peanut butter and jelly arrangement.
So, how could I be more excited than when my friend let me know about a podcast where you:
A) Listen to a podcast
B) Watch a movie at the same time?
Lads and lassies, may I bring to the fore of this discussion, Down in Front. Intelligent movie commentary, fellas that make with the jokes, insightful discussions, how can you go wrong?
Relevant Links: Main Site!
[This is the spot where other links would go to make your perusal of the podcast as easy as possible, but the Down in Front website is great and has everything I'd typically link to right on top of the front page. Woo!]
Average Episode Length: Long. Like, for-realz long. All of the episodes I've downloaded so far have been 2+ hours! How do you like THAT for quantity?
Each episode of Down in Front concerns itself with a single movie. The movie is discussed by a rotating cast of hosts the lend their expertise to the conversation. As a listener, you can either listen to their discussion on its own OR sync the Down in Front podcast with the movie, and enjoy the symbiotic relationship!
[Okay, it would be closer to a commensal relationship. Happy, Ms. Science?]
This provides an amazing excuse for you to not only watch a movie you love, not only subject your friends and loved ones to watching it again for the thousandth time, but to watch a movie you love with your friends and loves ones (possibly bribed with the promise of never having to watch it again) and listening to other people who watched the movie talk about it!
If one would like, one may even pretend the hosts are talking directly to you. Attempts can be made to join the conversation at varying rates of success.
Content Rating: Explicit! Considering many of the movies they select are rated R, let that guide your expectations for profanity. In what I've listened to the hosts are not crude, but much of what they're watching has "adult themes" so, hey, it might crop up.
Music: Nah, not really. Just the lightest touch at the intro.
Release Schedule: Weekly, with most episodes releasing on Monday.
Unintentionally Good Part: They have an episode for "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" which is one of the best movies ever made and yes I will fight you on this.
Unintentionally Bad Part: Some of the reviewers either dislike or are indifferent to Avatar: the Last Airbender, which is one of the best shows ever made and yes I will fight you on this. Their opinion differs from mine on this single, unimportant facet of life so that makes them wrong.
At the very, very least, Down in Front will provide you with a bevy of opinions on movies that you have seen. Perhaps you will agree with them. PERHAPS YOU WON'T?!?! Then you are free to find your favorite forum (or visit the Down in Front forum) and mash your little hands against your keyboard and share your opinion with THE WORLD.
Bonus Features: Down in Front also features a "shorter" version of their podcast called The Intermission. This podcast is more of the "potpourri" style where the hosts bring stories from their lives to the table. Looks like the topics can vary wildly in The Intermission, so just think of it as your own, personal lottery of things you might want to listen to!
You know that cool uncle you have? The one that always remembers
to bring your a souvenir when he visits, and let you "drive" his truck
when you were seven? Turns out that's Tom Wilson, and he has a podcast
called Big Pop Fun.
First: Tom Wilson is the actor that portrayed Biff in Back to the Future (among other roles). Take a moment, soak it in, say the quotes that you've memorized. We good? A'ight.
I'm Tom, your sometimes far-less-than perfect guide through the magical sleigh ride of entertainment.
Release Schedule: Weekly, with a new podcast each Friday.
Average Episode Length: Hell, I dunno... like, 50 minutes? How's that fit ya?
Music: A cute little intro with a good, uh, introduction. Yeah, that sounds right. Not a lot to speak of otherwise.
Content Rating: Clean. Even if Tom Wilson did choose to swear, his voice is so charming you wouldn't mind.
[People are] always curious, especially as an actor. "What do you
do? What are you doing tomorrow?" and you say, "Well, I'm preparing for
auditions and I'm writing but I'm semi-retired so I decide what I'm
going to do. It's semi-retirement and I may just go to the basement and
start carving duck decoys."
Tom Wilson has lived the kind of life that results in a catalog of interesting stories and wouldn't you like to hear a few? Of course you would! That's the main point of Big Pop Fun and what makes it so enjoyable. The whole formula of the thing is:
I won't even ask you to show your work. On occasion Tom will invite a friend to the podcast and record their conversations, which generate more interesting stories to listen to! There's a lot of discussion of the ins and outs of show business, recollections of the past, funny celebrity moments, and anecdotes, anecdotes, anecdotes.
Unintentionally Good Part: Strictly speaking, this doesn't have much to do with the podcast itself (scandal!), but you really need to check out Tom Wilson's art. He's a pop culture icon, painting pop culture icons, which boils down to lots of awesome drawings of retro toys. Very cool!
Unintentionally Bad Part: For a show called "Big Pop Fun," things
can get surprisingly heavy in the conversations that take place. Like,
so depressing that I have actually had to take off my headphone and look
at my iPod in disbelief at what I was hearing. Woof, man. These sad topics can sneak up on you when you're not expecting them and may bum you out.
Tom Wilson has that earnest way of speaking that always engages me in a podcast, and I think you should give Big Pop Fun a try. Get to it!
[Play this little tune while you read the intro. Much obliged, pardner.]
Hey look buddy, I'm a blogger.
That means I write posts.
Not posts like '10 Tips for Burning Sage & Contemporary Inter-Office Clarity,' because that would fall within the purview of your conundrums of spirituality.
I write practical posts.
For instance, how am I going to tell some big, mean mother-hubbard that he's missing out on some of the best noise that can be poured into a human hear-hole?
The answer? Write a podcast review.
And if that don't work, write more podcast review. Like this review of Control Point...
Long, long ago, back when the Internet was still awash in the primordial soup of MySpace and Napster downloads, a Team Fortress 2 podcast began, and it was good. A group of young, intrepid men came together with a song in their heart, a microphone set up in someone's computer room, and the dream to share their wishes and dreams with an audience that longed to hear them.
There were one hundred episodes that flowed like milk and honey across the land. For years there were fan contributions, heated discussions about "honey pot" servers, and lots and lots and lots of inside-jokes.
And then they went away. Some say they ascended into the aether, never to be seen again.
Five hundred and forty-one days later, they came back! And it was around this point I realized I should probably write a review about them.
Average Episode Length: Mercy, there's a lot of episodes to looks at. I say...approximately an hour and fifteen minutes, as the crow flies.
Brent "Chaos" Copeland, Wes "WesWilson" Wilson, and Eric "Nailhead" Fullerton. Spencer "Devilturnip" Williams (source: TF2 Wiki) are your proud-and-loud hosts for your Control Point experience. Fans and players of "America's #1 war-themed hat simulator" these guys know their way around TF2 like a Mola mola knows where to get its meals. Episodes feature discussion about game play techniques, updates, recent changes to the game, community information, nitpicking over play-styles and damn near every facet of the game that can be talked about.
Y'all, these guys run a tight ship of a podcast. There are topics! There is a number you can call and leave messages for the hosts! They have bumpers to put in between topics! There are returning guests! Each episode is polished and professionally delivered straight to you with clear quality and good editing. They host a chat room as they live-stream the podcast! I think there are even a few dramatic episodes, people. These guys mean business.
Music: A banging little intro that I enjoy, as well as a good outro. Sometimes they play 1950s-esque music, and that makes me happy.
Content Rating: Mildly Explicit. I believe that these gents keep the swears to a minimum, but I am not listening through the whole backlog (again) to make sure, so I'll hedge my bets.
Release Schedule: According to their site, you can listen live every Sunday at 5. New episodes posted each Wednesday. I believe that when their schedule is awry, they throw out supplementary podcasts, so keep in touch with their site to see what's up.
Unintentionally Good Part: The fan-contributed content. Most of it is mediocre, but every once in a while there is a true gem of awesome.
Unintentionally Bad Part: God bless this community, because they really seem to support this podcast, but sometimes what they send in? It hurts the ears. I have had to mute this podcast on more than one occasion. Fortunately these bits are super-easy to skip over and then you get back to the goodness!
If you cannot recognize a single item in this list, then you are excused from this review. Go on and play at one of the nicer parts of the Internet.
As for the rest of you social delinquents, it is time to read up on Haste: The Official Obsidian Portal Podcast.
Before I get into this, I'll admit that I am a big fan of Obsidian Portal and would love if you became a big fan too, dear reader. This website is a massively useful tool for anyone who plays tabletop RPGs. With an easy to use interface, players and GMs can create/list/display/organize/edit/use any places/NPCs/PCs/Items/Documents that are used in their game. A fantastic replacement for a stuffed, disorganized binder that can be lost/burninated/eaten, Obisdian Portal can hold an entire campaign ready to go on any computer or mobile Interweb device.
Beyond that, you can view other campaigns on Obsidian Portal to take inspiration from other people's games and see who's doing what in the RPG world. It is free to sign-up, and while there is a paid membership that grants extra perks/functions, the basic account is still a great tool. I've used it before in a previous campaign and it works for a document heavy game, or even a short, month-long exploration into a gaming system.
Okay, that's my sale's pitch! Who'd have guessed that when I find something I enjoy, I want to tell other people about it? Let's move on!
Average Episode Length: Twenty-one minutes. EXACTLY.
Music: Intro and outro, both credited to LukHash. I am not entirely sure what a LukHash is, but there you go.
Content Rating: Clean for everyone except Jack Chick.
Haste: The Official Obsidian Portal Podcast is you brief but beneficial dip into the world and whims of tabletop RPGs. Hosts Jerry and Micah are ready and willing to relay all the most recent and relevant news that relates to this hobby.
Each podcast brings mention of any relevant news, such as anticipated rule book releases and corporate doings that affect current systems. The hosts are knowledgeable and experienced on the whole, and it is clear that tabletop RPGs are their thing. If any interesting items that relate to gaming have crossed their paths, they will be sure to let you know about them. This is a good way to hear about rule systems or gaming aids that you might not run across on your own.
There are topics... which... are pretty self-explanatory. The hosts will bring up a topic related to tabletop RPGs, and then discuss them. ...ta-da! The topics are varied and the hosts' thoughts are fun to hear. At the very least, they'll give you something to disagree with at some forum somewhere.
Haste: The Official Obsidian Portal Podcast (I like typing the whole name out, ok?) also asks listeners to send in questions via their Twitter account.
Finally, Haste: The Official Obsidian Portal Podcast recommends a tip to better use your Obsidian Portal account. What part of "The Official Obsidian Portal Podcast" are you not getting?
Unintentionally Good Part: If you are a user of Obsidian Portal, which you should be, it is just the cherry on the cake to see that not only does this site support a huge community of nerds and their games, but works to add more useful content beyond the base purpose of their site. Yay, effort!
Unintentionally Bad Part: The short format and the fact that there are only two hosts leaves little in the way of lively debate. Considering longer podcasts like Fear the Boot and The Podgecast, you may find this one a bit short for your style.
Dear, sweet, [DEITY OF CHOICE] I love eating things that are horrible for me. If it were up to the conspiracy that is the part of my brain that deals with pleasure and my tongue, I would eat nothing but junk food for the rest of my life. I would become so innudated with BHT that I would have to be buried in a lead-lined coffin to prevent the Twinkies and Slim Jims that would sprout from the earth around my grave.
Snacks are so good! What's your favorite snack? I think mine might be Starbursts. Happiness in a wax-coated wrapper. Mmm.
Let's talk Mike and Tom Eat Snacks (MATES).
"On the Mike and Tom Eat Snacks podcast, if it's not already apparent, what you and I do is: we pick a snack, each podcast, we eat it, we talk about it, we rate it. End of podcast."
This podcast combines Michael Ian Black, Tom Cavanagh and a sheer passion for snacks. Each episode there is a snack, there is intense discussion, there is commentary and insight. The hosts stay almost disturbingly on topic of discussing the episode's snack, but rest assured that they managed to sneak in plenty of tangents and conversational shenanigans.
Music: There is a jamming intro song. They also have a soundboard, and are not afraid to use it.
Content Rating: Mildly Explicit. I'm listening to the podcast now and to be honest, I can't find any specific uses of bad language. However, the topics can wander into playing with ideas and stereotypes that you might not want to float out of your speakers at work. Headphones are suggested in public places.
Average Episode Length: A sample size of 8 episodes (randomly selected) gives us an average time of thirty-nine minutes.
I... man, I don't know what to say. This podcast displays a stunningly earnest and singular attempt to bring snack foods into the mainstream discussion of the world. Packaging is mentioned, the quality of the snack food upon being removed from the packaging, appearance and aroma, the taste of the snack throughout the eating process, and any lingering, chemical aftertastes that might crop up. And I honestly think you'll enjoy listening to all of this!
The pattern of the hosts' conversation takes an episode to get used to, so give it a few episodes to see if it is a good fit for you or not. There are some fascinating theories and ratholes surrounding their ideas about snacks. MATES is ready and willing to fill at least a half-hour of your day with its delightful ramblings.
Drinking Game: Drink whenever -
You can hear a host chewing
You find yourself nodding in agreement with one of their points about a snack
EXPRESS MODE - Drink each time they rattle/crush/crinkle the packaging
Unintentionally Good Part: I really, really just like listening to people talk about food. It is almost like I'm eating it, but without the caloric intake. Possible new diet fad?
Unintentionally Bad Part: You will be unexpectedly upset the first time they are totally wrong in their opinion of the focal snack. It will ruin your day until you go eat the snack they have spoken against, and restore its good graces in your mind.
Go forth to your listening devices and vending machines!
A chocolate bar with a picture of a kitten on it (no actual kitten used in the chocolate bar)
Comfy pajamas (an annual favorite)
Ukulele
A soprano ukulele, to be accurate. And it's great! The ancestral Viddy manse has been filled with the gentle plink-a-plonk-a of my attempts at trying to learn songs. Did you know there are tabs for all the songs you can think of? There are!
Now when most people think of a ukulele, they think of something like this:
Yeah, yeah the ukulele can do that. But it can also do this:
And even this:
The river of the ukulele runs wide, and it runs deep. You're going to want a guide to get to the best ukulele-related content on the web. You're going to need Ukulele Hunt.
The Ukulele Hunt website is just chock-full of information from reviews to tutorials and a really swank logo.
Music: Funny I should have this category! Turns out that the Ukulele Hunt podcast's main feature is a veritable buffet of ukulele-utilizing performers. Classical, silly, pop, sad, saucy, there's a tune for every genre and a few minutes to spare on this podcast for all of them Host Bossarocker (ain't lyin') leads her listeners through a guided tour of ukulele-related music, pausing along the way to let people stretch their legs and take pictures at scenic parks. And by "scenic parks" I mean "interviews with people who play the ukulele."
Content Rating: Explicit. See "Unintentionally Good Part."
Drinking Game: There ought to be a good one for this podcast, shouldn't there? Okay:
Drink for each ukulele solo
Drink each time a song changes, and you didn't realize it until a minute and a half into the new song
Drink when you're drunk enough to be surprised and charmed by the host's accent.
That should keep you going.
Average Episode Length: Approximately 48 minutes (over two thousand seconds!).
Unintentionally Good Part: From their FAQ (children look away):
Did you know ‘Uke Hunt’ sounds rude if you say it out loud?
No, and anyone who thinks that has a filthy mind. I’m far too innocent to have any idea about that sort of thing.
Unintentionally Bad Part: Unlike the kazoo, the ukulele is not a magical device that makes any song better. Given the wide variety of songs, you are bound to hit on some that don't match your taste. Luckily for us, you can fast-forward through podcasts. Yay!
More YouTube!:
Ukulele Hunt. Give it a try! I promise you'll experience it.
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