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Episode 032 - Giant White Telephone
42 Plays2 months ago
This week, we chat about things!
- Our weeks and future plans
- Work still sucks
- Amandala Stenberg's IG reel
- Catios
- Stuff we've been up to
- Sunny
- and MORE!
Connect with us via our website https://justshillin.com or send us an email/voicemail at [email protected]
Rate and review us on your podcatcher and Goodpods!
Thank you to our good friend Chris Hall for the amazing cover artwork!
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Transcript
Introduction and Catch-Up
00:00:02
Speaker
Hello, and welcome to episode number 32 of Just Shillin. I am one of your hosts, Sean Hoffman. And I am one of your other hosts, or I am your other host, Andy Bell. Sorry, Sean. One of one of other one of the other hosts, one of 30. We have a lot of us here. but Yeah, man. ah Welcome. How are you doing, buddy? Welcome back. I'm doing good. I'm doing good. um Yeah, like ah it's been a, it feels like it's been forever. You know, I feel like we haven't.
00:00:37
Speaker
Like I know, I know when the last time we spoke, it's like one extra day. Like we bumped the schedule by one day and it's like, Andy, I haven't seen you in six years. Like how are the kids? What are you working still working at the same place? how's how's How's the how's the how's the partner? Things like that. But no, other than that, I mean, I'm good. I'm good. um It's been a week. It's been there's been like not a lot of like news news, but I feel like a lot of things have changed.
00:01:04
Speaker
in like my routine for like the last week, there's some. So like recently.
Volunteering and Trail Maintenance
00:01:12
Speaker
We like so last weekend's last weekend, we went and did like we we you know, we like hiking, we like doing outdoor stuff. um So Madison previously, she she hiked that really long trail. um But as most people may or may not know, like those trails, like don't just maintain themselves. So like it relies on volunteers to go out there and and do a lot of that stuff. And that's that's what we did last weekend. And we got some more of that coming up this week. Doing some trail work. Went out and did some camping. Did some trail work. We got to you know do some brush work. We got to you know fix some switchback turns, improve some drainage, do a little bit of rock work. We got some more of that coming up this weekend. It just so happened that like we had a freakishly cold
00:02:01
Speaker
two days last weekend. like So it's been like warm, and it's warm again. But it got down to like where it was kind of like it was like snowing at elevation, like a little bit higher than us. and it's like that We were not prepared for that. It was very cold. um But luckily, it warmed back up again. Other than that, that's the trail work thing. It was a lot of fun. i really enjoy I didn't think I was going to enjoy it as much as I would, um because you know it's like yard work, but not your own. but man i really, really enjoyed that like going out and like, all right, we're gonna like fix this, like being able to get out there and like, improve something that like other people are going to get to enjoy and like, fix the tread like we were in a tripping hazards work on drainage things like that. I don't know. There's just something about it like working in computers all day then going out and
00:02:49
Speaker
getting to do that for a little while. Like that's, I'm like, Ooh, I think this is a thing. It's like scale modeling, but like real life and bigger. Um, um yeah it's cool, Matt. It's cool. And it's also commendable because you're, you're helping other people. It's not just about, yeah, it's not, it's not like home improvement or, yeah you know, you're not fixing up your own garden for your own self gratification or anything like that. You're, you're, you're actually helping other people.
00:03:17
Speaker
Um, enjoy the same kind of past time that you and especially Madison, you know, are really, really hooked into. And I, I, I really respect that. And. Ultimately, if it wasn't for folks like you are that many, many, many thousands of people wouldn't be able to enjoy it. We have, um, you know, we have a network of volunteers over here that, that, that that will help.
00:03:42
Speaker
make sure public paths and public bridleways are clear and maintained and typically they're volunteers. It's great because if you if you if you you know When you do come here, the the English countryside is is is is is great, depending on where you are. It is great. i mean you've seen the and I'm sure you've seen an awful lot of the they the the dramatizations and the the ah the very English, kind of ah sorry, very British, sorry. um
00:04:14
Speaker
um type of countryside that we have here which is relatively low-key and mundane but quite pretty. What you guys do on these amazing hike paths or these these amazing trails that you guys work on is is it could be the matter of life and death.
00:04:31
Speaker
which is which is surreal to me, the fact that you're you know youre you're fixing drainage to make sure it's accessible and not dangerous for folks that are going to be following after you. that's um you know that yeah You're doing a public service there, mate, and I can understand ah kind of the buzz you're getting from doing it. Yeah, it was ah it was a good time. I'm glad we get to go out there and like something we could do together too, because I'm not i'm not i not a big fan of going out for
Costco Adventures
00:04:59
Speaker
six months at a time. and no all that so you know it's i do have to say i mean i do have to say thank you before i go into my week i just want to thank you it is part of your week and you've probably but you've probably forgotten it i want to thank you for taking the videos the live videos that you took of your trip to um to costco
00:05:22
Speaker
to give me a yeah to give me a real ah real time like experience of of what of of what of what Costco is like. And yeah, you blew my socks off, mate. It ah it looks amazing. You went from throwing or getting Madison to throw herself into a into a steel shed to checking out a few hardcore power tools to within seconds.
00:05:47
Speaker
moving on to Nativity calendars or or whatever that was, Nativity statues, which I found rather bizarre. I'm guessing they kind of don't assort their product by category. They just throw it in there. But either way, in that middle section, yeah, it's it's kind of seasonal stuff. yeah The size of that pumpkin pie as well. I mean, that was bigger than your face. Did you did you see the price on it too? No. So around Thanksgiving time, they sell those I feel like they're like 24 inch or whatever that is in centimeters ah pumpkin pie. They're like $7, they're super cheap. So, and like were around Thanksgiving time, they will just stack the refrigerator section full of these things. And like there's usually like online time-lapse videos of like just them kind of like getting taken and then refilled and taken people. And they're good. They're not like a sucky store-brought pumpkin pie. they're very They are very good. And they've already started kind of
00:06:43
Speaker
pushing them out. Did I send a video of the gardening tools? Was that in there? Yes. I know you said you were a fan of the gardening tools, but it was the children's set. Yeah, but even the children's set are bigger than ours. It's impressive, mate. It really is impressive. Whatever you guys do, I mean, you're known for it as a nation. If you're going to go to the States, everything's going to be big. If you're going to do a garden tour, you come out. Why would we make it compact when you don't need it to be?
00:07:12
Speaker
No. why Why on Earth? And then the whiskey as well. Was that whiskey, the boss hog? Is that is that whiskey? Is that the seventeen hundred dollar bottle? Yeah. I don't actually know what it was. I just saw it man like, oh, make sure to get a picture of that. I don't know. Let me look. It is. well It's whiskey. Yeah, w rye whiskey.
00:07:35
Speaker
I was debating with Madison, am I, do you think that's the real thing inside that little container? Cause all that is, is a shoe box, like a shoe display box that they also sell, but they always use them as display cases. I'm like, do you think that's the real thing in there? Or do you think it's like a fake demo version? And she's like, I bet it's the real thing. Why? I'm like, cause it's a $1,700 bottle of whiskey. Like I would put that like L other stores, so put like deodorant behind the counter, let alone a $1,500 whiskey.
00:08:03
Speaker
So for anyone listening for context, cause this, this doesn't, I'm looking at a picture at the moment. It doesn't make make particularly good podcasting. Sean has taken a bunch of photographs and a bunch of videos just to really rub my nose into the fact that I can't go to a Costco in the UK, uh, to demonstrate just how great they are. And they are great and they're fucking mad. They're properly mad. What are you showing me in is a, a, a, uh,
00:08:30
Speaker
a very expensive $1,700 bottle of whiskey that's sandwiched in between what looks like a pile of clothing, like jeans, sweats, and and the rest of it. and On the other side, it looks like either a deli a delli rack with meats on it. um Either way, the whole it It doesn't make sense. It just doesn't make sense. But it also adds in my mind to the fascination and the desire to go to to Costco one day before I die.
00:09:03
Speaker
Yes, thank you for that. The the wine rack is between like the wine casing, whatever you call that look, that kind of that whatever is between the clothing section and the produce or the produce. And so when I sent you all those like seafood ones, because I know you're a big seafood fan. Those are right. Yeah. Right of that photo. So it's all right there just together. And amazing it's good. It makes sense. Makes sense. It makes sense. Now you've explained it. Yeah, no, no, absolutely.
00:09:32
Speaker
Cool. Cool. What else about the week? There is is that kind of there is that's that's a long day. There's one other thing that happened that I forgot about until I came into my office to record this.
Raffle Story and Home Improvement
00:09:42
Speaker
um We go to that music on the beach thing every Thursday. um And this last week was there's a it was a charity event like a like ah a they have like a charity raffle to support like a local arts program.
00:09:54
Speaker
And so two years ago, we went for the first time and we kind of made out like bandits. It was kind of weird. Like I know exactly how we want a bunch of stuff. ah So like you basically you come and you buy like little tickets with numbers on them. And then there was all these tables lined up with all these different things that have been donated by like local businesses like ski lift tickets or a two night stay at a thing or $50 for dinner. Or but there's also like,
00:10:19
Speaker
ah art like ceramic pieces by local local artists and blah, blah, blah. And so when we we arrived, we we kind of took a long time to, we waited till like the last minute to put our tickets in the cups ah to vote for the different things we wanted for.
00:10:34
Speaker
And we were eight we walked away with like three or four different things, which you're lucky to walk away with one, but we came out with a lot because they didn't shake the cups before they drew the names, like the numbers out. So like they just kept pulling like our number out of like these 30 things. We walked out with four and there's like 200 people here. um So we're like, hell yeah, let's go again this year, even though we're already going. But there's a lot more limited this year and like we were not expecting to win anything, but i
00:11:05
Speaker
We did come away with one thing, I did. um And it just so happened to be when we were walking along these tables, I'm like, oh, oh, I really, I really want that. And Madison looked at me and was like,
00:11:17
Speaker
That is so stupid. We do not need that. Please do not put that ticket in that cup. like Do not put one of your tickets in that cup. I'm like, what are the odds? like I mean, there's a ton of people here and like they had fewer items, so there's more tickets in each cup. I'm like, the odds are against us. I'm doing it anyways, because I i want that, because I think it's funny.
00:11:35
Speaker
So they're doing the drawing later on and it gets to this one. And I'm like, it's kind of near the end and we haven't won anything yet. We didn't win the things that we really wanted. Uh, and it gets to this and I'm like, watch, I'm gonna, I'm gonna win this.
00:11:48
Speaker
And they read off the numbers and it's and it's obviously mine. And I just started laughing. I'm like um'm like, let's go. Like, look yes. And Madison's like, are you serious? There's no way. because she knew Because she knew my number range because hers were right before mine. And she's like, are you kidding me? There's no way. And I stand up and wave. And they're like, oh my god. And our neighbors are losing it. Because she's like, I she's like i swear if he wins this, I'm going to be so mad, yada, yada, yada. And I won it.
00:12:15
Speaker
And so what it was, I know everybody's anxiously anxiously waiting. It's in my office because I think if it's not in my office right now, it's probably gonna get, it won't be in our house anymore. It's gonna disappear. So it's in here right now. And so what it is, is a giant metal from a gallery a local gallery. Oh, dude.
00:12:37
Speaker
It's a giant metal by print. It's a print on metal of this bear who's standing up on two legs. And with his arms down just kind of in its image like hokey like print behind it like cherries and some leaves and stuff but it's just as it's maybe two and a half three feet tall on this big metal front like this big metal print and it's just a big dumb bear just standing there looking at you like
00:13:03
Speaker
like hey that is a work of art that is a work of art in someone's eyes that's a work of art that's um and so it's it's it's it's beautiful man what can i say and very relevant to your life so um you know it's it's it's you know who knows where you guys are going to be a year from now you may be living in new zealand you never know yeah maybe if if madison gets her way yeah yeah You never, never know. So so yeah, no, I mean, that that's that's's amazing. I mean, it is um it's somewhat on the gaudy side. Oh, absolutely. But, but, but, but, but, kitsch is back in, mate. I embrace it. Embrace the kitsch. It's a lovely, it's a lovely, again, just for description, it's a lovely picture of, it's a large,
00:13:55
Speaker
What should be a canvas, but it's not a canvas, it's painted straight onto metal, which is um classy, bit of classy. it's a large It's a large picture of a bear um that looks like it's been... Actually, the background's got no context, because it's almost looked like he's actually standing in front of some really, really bad retro 70 wallpaper.
00:14:23
Speaker
But... Yeah, he kind of looks he kind of looks like a little kid who's kind of in the middle of getting yelled at about something, like he's in trouble. well Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I'm talking about the background, because the background is like is a little bit... wow not wow for while it's it's It's well... It is properly, properly um very vintage. It's like a bad Photoshop, yeah. I mean, look at the size of those cherries next to the size of his head.
00:14:47
Speaker
um Yeah, no, it's it's it's honestly, it's it that that is beautiful. ah Absolutely beautiful. um And you should cherish that. If I'm not allowed to bring it out of my office, I'm thinking about just giving it to my mom when she next time I see her and be like, hey, I got this for you because she's fascinated by the bears out here too. And it's like, oh, this this would go well in her and her
00:15:15
Speaker
is she the type of mu Is she the type of mom that would just say, oh, that's amazing. Thank you, son. I love you so much. Big hugs. Or would she call you out on your bullshit? She would. She'd want to know the backstory, like somewhere in the middle. She would. She would appreciate it and be like.
00:15:31
Speaker
This will go well, because she has a big picture of a bear from after being out here that she has in like a theme, like a room got somewhere. But she'd be like, why, why do you have this giant metal standing bear? And I'd be like, I want it. I want it in her raffle. Supporting, you know, the key is that I'm supporting a local arts program.
00:15:50
Speaker
Exactly. And the second key is Madison really didn't want it. but So that made me want it even more. And so I'm like, I want nothing more than because it's not about the it's not about the outcome. It's about how we got here. It's about the journey. And that journey was watching Madison's eyes roll so far back into her head with frustration that I put the ticket in that cup and I want it.
00:16:16
Speaker
That just makes the whole thing. I i don't even care what happens. Meant to be. i could Meant to be. yeah i don't i have I have zero faith, you know that. I have no faith whatsoever. And I'm and i'm envious of folk that have but people that have faith and believe in fate. But this is one of those occasions where I believe in, it was you know it was one of those moments that was meant to be.
00:16:39
Speaker
I invested in the joke and it the joke paid off and now it's like, I don't the and don't care what happens. it and The bet ah bit saluted you. It saluted you on the way out and it delivered. Well played, mate.
00:16:55
Speaker
But other than that, outside of that, I just went to Costco, you know all about that. um And and that's that's kind of it, just hi ah hosting hikers. I think we're kind of getting to the end of that now that we're getting kind of into starting to get in into fall where there the bubbles have kind of passed. But other than that, I mean, we're. ah I hear hanging out, you know, I'm not going to talk ah like I'm done. I'm done talking about the deck. Catherine has introduced our our friend, our buddy Catherine had showed us her recently sent us a picture of her her new catio or I don't i think she called it like a cat fence. um Yeah, we ah we I'm familiar with calling them catios a cat patio. Yeah, same here as cat enclosure. and Same hand.
00:17:36
Speaker
So now cat decks are out, catios are in. um I'm going to have to start planning for my next summer project, which I'm thinking is going to have to be a patio. Well, we're thinking of, I'm thinking of, um I mean, I got to win the lottery first, but you know that I'm kind of bridging, I'm kind of bridging here. This is kind of like a little bit of a segue in that I think I told you that we got to make a decision on the wreck debt decking that I fell through. yeah um And we're thinking, well, maybe we should have a little bit of a conservatory, a little bit of a conservatory, just just a small one on the on the outside. And then
00:18:16
Speaker
Literally that over the weekend we were thinking well, maybe not a conservative. We don't need it Just the two of us now in this house. We do do we need we don't need the room If we want to enjoy the Sun we go outside. What the hell do we want a conservatory? And what we've been talking about is well, what about a cameo? It's not secure enough. It allows us to be able to keep the cat safe Overnight we tend to leave them in we live we live we live in the countryside. There's lots of um foxes and um other shit going on. Well, this's mainly mainly foxes, um but also cars because we live in the countryside, there's lots of country lanes and youngsters tend to tend to drive.
00:18:58
Speaker
way too fast than the roads should allow, but they do. And there's an awful lot of- And because outdoor cats are absolute menaces. They kill everything. Yeah, yeah, yeah, well, I'm not so worried about them killing stuff. It's more about them. We went through many, many years of... Because we've always had pets. We've always had dogs and cats. We've always had dogs and cats.
00:19:22
Speaker
um the occasional rabbit and the occasional hamster the occasional guinea pig um but luckily ah the girls grew up and didn't want them anymore so that was good although sorry for one guinea pig in particular it lasted forever the girls had left home i think by the time that this one guinea pig decided to pass away it's like thank god because of course it was me cleaning them out every week. Anyway, sorry, going off at tangent again, won't do that this week. So we're thinking about a cardio, which allows us to be able to open a window at night for it to be safe for the cats to still enjoy the evening air and and and to be out and about, turn it into, you know make sure it's really, really um
00:20:07
Speaker
got a lot of, abundant with, with, with, with, with flora and fauna inside the Calio itself and just, and just yeah make it a place for them to hang out. So that's what we're thinking about at the moment as opposed to, and it's significantly cheaper than a bloody, than a bloody conservatory. Anyway, so, sorry, I went off a tangent there, but yeah, no, I'm not super loving, I, I accept, I accept as a, as your buddy on this pod, I accept moving on from,
00:20:35
Speaker
Decking now. Thank you, Turbo. It was lovely. It was lovely while it lasted, but we need to move on now. And I'm happy to to to accept catios as the next discussion point. I think it's the future. Yeah. I think it's i think it's the new, the next big trend for...
00:20:53
Speaker
podcast tangents if I had to say so myself. um A quick question about conservatories. i I know the term, and I know mostly from the game board game Clue, is that more of a greenhouse, which I always assumed it was, or is it more of a sunroom? Sunroom, sorry. You may sound like it's more of a sunroom. Yeah, sunroom. so so you You have you have um a lot of Brits. i mean
00:21:19
Speaker
I mean, depend yeah basically most Brits live in ah in a what we call a normal sized house is no way near as big as you guys. You have the land, you have the space. um you know We have we have you know over 66 million people living in, I think it's even bigger than that. Point being is that you know you've got 70 million people living in a very, very small island.
00:21:41
Speaker
um and it Room is a premium and we've got great countryside and everything, but an awful lot of that is what they call green, what they call green belt. You can't build on it. And so where people live typically is just the very nature of the UK is it's small. It's small. And so what people have done to make it affordable, to expand on their houses over the years, big thing in the, I guess it started in the seventies and got progressively
00:22:15
Speaker
Sorry, have more momentum over subsequent decades. People will stick a sunroom on the back of the house to to to to give them more room, but also to enjoy the summer while not having to worry about the English summer, which typically involves a little sprinkle of rain every now and again. So yeah, i don't know it's that's what it is. is People still have still have um um
00:22:43
Speaker
Gardening well my not glass houses. What am I thinking of? um Oh God Like a greenhouse greenhouse. Yeah. Yeah, sorry people will still have greenhouses, but that's very separate That's typically at the end of the garden as opposed to a part of the house a part of the house. Nice. I was just wondering, because I knew the term, and I can picture them in my head, but it's like sometimes there's usually, like I know it from Clue, like it was with the candlestick. Yeah, yeah. But I'm always like, oh, is it, I always assumed it was like a greenhouse, but it sounds like it's more of a sunroom with plants in it to help make it seem like a more enjoyable space. Part of the outdoors. Yeah, yeah, yeah, part of the outdoors. Cool, I like that. It's typically attached to a house, but
00:23:28
Speaker
um Because it's got a glass roof, it's typically not part of the house, if that makes sense. So it's attached to the house. um But you go through an exit of your house proper to this area, um which is still part of your house, but it's kind of like an enclosed porch, but not part of an exactly exactly. So yeah, no, we've got that.
00:23:55
Speaker
Anything else this week, mate? Good God, 23 minutes in. That is it. That's all I've got. Well, it's pretty good. Nothing going on for me. How about you? Keeps good going. Mate, you know where I'm going with this.
Work Stress and Relaxation
00:24:10
Speaker
The work thing is mental. The reason why we're recording late a day after is because work is still... Yeah, it's pretty full on. Big launch.
00:24:25
Speaker
We're doing okay. We'll get there. Just a lot of pressure, um which is interesting. And like I said, there are a few folk outside of the the work in air quotes that kind of have expectations that don't that don't understand just the complexity of what we're trying to achieve. um And I'm doing my best as I possibly can at my age to help, to to to to bite my tongue. and and really not tell them what I think of them as people. But anyway, it's all right, man. It's it's it's going okay. It's just, um I'm i'm i really looking forward to the end of September because that kind of will be my do or die a moment or my, you know, shit or bust moment. um That's when that's out of the way. But saying that, we did have a long weekend in the UK. So we have monday we had another bank holiday, which means that we have Monday off. And as a result,
00:25:23
Speaker
Yeah. And as a result of that, um, we decided to get away. And so we, we drove down to place we stay in, in, in Devon by the, by the coast side, uh, sorry, by the seaside. And we literally spent a lot, a long weekend there, which was really, really nice. Unfortunately, I had to do a little bit of work while I was down there, but in the most part we were able to relax. We had the dog with us.
00:25:48
Speaker
We were able to take her out for walks most days on the beach. Yeah, it rained a few times but quite frankly we were pretty good at um dodging the rain. ah We ate some really really good food until...
00:26:00
Speaker
until the last night. And then, um, so the girls came down as well, which is really awesome, but we only had them for two days of the three. And so they had, because they have commitments very, very early on, on Tuesday morning, which meant they had to travel back on the Monday, whereas we could travel back the morning of our return to work. And, um,
00:26:20
Speaker
And so they so on the last night where I was just Lucy and I, I took i took her out to a place that, because we've been going down there for quite a few years now. And in context, it's about a two and a half hour journey from where I live at the moment, further down, actually towards I mean, you know the map of the UK, towards where I was born and brought up, but it's the it's the county before called Devon, or the state before called Devon, although we'd never have any states over here because they were too small. Anyway, the point being is is it is that I took a wrap for dinner that night to a place that we've been to quite a few times and
00:26:57
Speaker
haven't but haven't eaten there for quite a few years but we still go back for i don't know middle of winter when we go when we go down and we walk the dog on the beach we're feeling cold we'll go there for a hot chocolate and they're a really really good outfit um but good god i got no idea what's going on with the the cooking because um
00:27:19
Speaker
being a fish lover, especially a shellfish lover, I have muscles and the muscles were smelly. And the first thing I thought was, that's not typically not a good time, a good sign, sorry. And then they were very, very rubbery as well. I'm like, and I was told, I asked the question, you know is is this all right and everything? And I was i was i was told that, yeah, it's the way it's been cooked because it was cooked in a particular side of vinegar.
00:27:47
Speaker
um which had the chemical reaction on the on the muscles. Anyway, the point being, bullshit. I felt like crap for two days. I have felt like crap for two days. um and um Yeah, I don't want to get into too graphic detail, but me and um I've been messing around with the white telephone quite a lot this, the last couple of couple of couple of days, um spending an awful lot of time and in in in in our bathroom. it's It's not been fun. So today is the first day I've probably i felt probably back to normal-ish. And um apart from that, mate, I haven't done an awful lot because
00:28:36
Speaker
after we spoke last wednesday it was full on until we got in the car and decided fuck it let's go we've got to get out of here we've got to get away from work and we'll get jump in the car and the girls did the same thing and they they jumped on in a car as well and and and and and headed down towards us um and now as and then as soon as i got back to work it was full on again so i haven't done an awful lot which is depressing but it's it's actually not by not doing a lot, it allowed me to kind of reset and level set a little bit and switch my brain off and not worry about, not worry about the work stuff and realize what the important stuff was, which was spending time with my family. And just every now and again, I'm really grateful for having those kinds of moments because good God, it's so easy to forget. It's really, really easy to forget what is really, really important. Um,
00:29:26
Speaker
And I know there's an awful lot of people out there at the moment that have life an awful lot harder than me. um And I've got to remember that every now and again. And some of the stuff that we get upset about, for example, you know around space stuff and the stuff that should give us pleasure and we get upset and excited about, I thought, God, we've got it. We've got it.
00:29:44
Speaker
We got it really, really good. Um, and we just need to remember that every now and again. So have an opportunity to feel a little bit thankful, uh, without coming over too cheesy and, and righteous. Cause that's, you know, that's not me anyway.
Gaming Frustrations and Impressions
00:29:56
Speaker
So that was good. like Um, the other bit, like a bit like buffe life Life is a buffet. Don't grab the food that you don't, you don't want to eat, man. Like, yeah, exactly. Exactly. Um, also real quick, the, I'd never heard the term slang white telephone before. And that's why I started laughing in the middle of what you were talking about. Cause it finally like.
00:30:13
Speaker
kicked in. It's like, Oh, because it's like, it's the toilet. Yeah. Like it, it took me a minute. And I think that's very funny. That was, that's in case you hear me laughing in the middle of while you're talking about serious stuff. No, it's fine. No, it's fine. It's like the realization washing over me. like And he thinks he had food poisoning. How how hilarious. No, it's all right. But I get that. And the other bit of news I have was that, um, um, and I'll leave it until we talk about Well, for what is for me that that the main topic of conversation I want to talk to you about, which is outlaws turned up. So I did the you know outlaws, Star Wars outlaws, the the game that everyone's talking about on their respective pods at the moment, whether they play or or they don't play. The point being is the latest news we've had in in in that particular franchise is the new game came out and um I paid a lot of money to get early an early copy.
00:31:08
Speaker
um I should have had three days access. Now, in fairness, this is my fault because um I'm old school when it comes down to titles that I really, really want. I really, really like. In the same way that our buddy Turbo. Good God, three weeks in a row, we're talking about Turbo.
00:31:24
Speaker
I can't believe I'm doing this. Anyway, in the same way that our buddy Turbo buys um physical media for films that he likes um and wants to preserve and want to keep, I do the same with gaming. So I would say 90% of my games I download i because i I've run out of room and I've got rid of, and despite the fact of getting rid of an awful awful lot of old titles, I've run out of room.
00:31:53
Speaker
um but once in a while there is a title that I want to I want to keep because It either means an awful lot to me or it's it's it's been it's been spun up as a landmark moment in gaming Some I've been some it certainly has been and some not so much. But anyway Don't talk about Starfield now. Anyway, the point being is is is bought the FP, sorry, the physical copy of Starfields. And again, because I paid upfront, I bought the, you can't get the premium pack on physical. You have to get the golden one, the gold, the whatever. You guys have got two options or three. The top tier. The top tier of the package. It's the one below it. So the top tier is digital only.
00:32:46
Speaker
And that gives you, I think two extra, two extra skins or two extra cosmetics, ah which I'm not bothered about the cosmetics. It was mainly the DLC that I'm um'm up for, but this version I bought, he's in past yeah exactly, exactly. It was the, um, it was the, it was the the steel book that I was really, really into because the steel book looks amazing. And so, um, but. Despite. So, so that's what I bought was.
00:33:15
Speaker
the premium, I'll find i'll find the edition. I'll do it while we're while we're talking. So that's what I bought was the premium edition of the FPP. but sorry Sorry guys, it's a work expression. It's full package product. The the um the the the the physical disc.
00:33:30
Speaker
Um, but, um, it didn't turn up three days prior to launch day. It turned up today, which is a day before it officially launches. And I'm like, ah that's really annoying. I mean, just so happens to be that I've been so busy at work. I couldn't play it anyway, but you know, being an old fart, it was the principle. I got on a right carrot moment about it. Uh, it was the principle that it didn't turn up three days prior to launch because that's what I pay for. And not only that.
00:33:58
Speaker
the steel book hasn't turned up as well. And I had a really lame email back from saying, oh yeah, the suppliers, so this is you guys, Ubisoft, the suppliers haven't provided us with the steel books in time. So what we did the right thing was to ship with you, ship to you the the the the game and we'll ship to you later on the steel book, which is fine. But the point being is that the game could have been with me two days ago and I could have started enjoying it like the rest of you guys.
00:34:27
Speaker
that have been enjoying it with Early Access. so But, like I said, it's given me the opportunity to get a load of work done and it means that now my weekend is free so I can actually enjoy it. There is a silver lining though because as somebody who did not get the FPP, ah I played probably within the hour that it dropped and played for maybe, not a lot, I maybe played 30 minutes, 40 minutes.
00:34:55
Speaker
really taking my time with it and only to get an email the next day being like, hey, oh, you want to lose? Yeah, we're we're sorry, but we noticed that you you specifically you are one of the people who maybe didn't play on the most recent version it because I will say when I was playing it, it was like.
00:35:16
Speaker
her her face was just like, her eyes were just like, like her eyelids were just constantly like flickering and blinking and her hair was all like static. you ah Maybe, maybe, you know, the cut scenes are weird and it just kind of had this like rough edge to it at times.
00:35:31
Speaker
um And I'm like, oh oh, it's whatever. It's early game jitters. But the email said, yeah, ah just kidding. Can you make sure that you have the most recent version and don't play that save ever again, because it has like game blocking progression, blocking bugs and yeah idea you kind of need to start over. And I was like, you know, I could have been mad about it, but I was like, I only played like 30 minutes and like it's you know, when you first start playing a game and it's like.
00:35:57
Speaker
You really kind of take your time like farting with the controls and walking around. So it's like, OK, I can I can like run through that in like five minutes if I need to. So I wasn't super. I wasn't upset at all about it. But it's like, you know, if I paid like six hours, I would have been pissed. Well, this is it. ah This is it. So there's a silver lining. At least you didn't do that. Did you did you? Is is that the PC or the Xbox or PS5 version? PS5.
00:36:23
Speaker
Right. So I don't know whether it's exclusive to PS5. So first of all, I've done some research while you've been talking. Yeah, I bought the gold edition. So do you know what? It's now 86.99. Jesus Christ. within Within hours of it launching, it's it's already 15 quid less than I paid.
00:36:45
Speaker
you gotta look Anyway, I'm not gonna keep your eyes looking forward, man. It's already yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Life's too short, right? Anyway, so so yeah, what I got was um which means that I get everything that the the the
00:37:00
Speaker
that the the platinum edition has, albeit I don't get two skins, which I can live with, but I do get this still case. So that that was the compromise that I made. Anyway, but I've seen today as well, and I was going to wait until we talked about this later on, but I saw today that Ubisoft is also, um who who basically have hammered the last three days, like properly,
00:37:30
Speaker
hammered the first three days they've issued that same patch and it's not a case of it's not a case of them continuing where they left off it's a case of they have to start a new game in its entirety and what they've been given and you wish you might get this actually now that you've said that you've already started is that they've been given yet yeah bip go ahead What they've been given is 100 Ubisoft Connect units, which apparently is like um loyalty points that can you be used, and I quote, on in-game rewards and Ubisoft... Is it Ubisoft or Ubisoft? Anyway, store discounts. And then you're also getting... Hold you hold your breath here, dude. You're also getting a Trailblazer Trinket. Mm-hmm.
00:38:25
Speaker
cosmetic to go with your with your character. So had you, I mean, the fact that, you know, you've been playing for half an hour, fair play, nice touch, but I do feel somewhat sorry for but people that have put, um there's a guy on this particular website talking about, thanks, I lost 15 hours of progress. um Yeah, so that's that's not good. That's not good.
00:38:53
Speaker
This is going to sound real heartless, but it's like maybe maybe don't invest like because this isn't the first time shit like this has happened. Like maybe don't invest 15 hours in the first 24 hours of an early access launch. Like we've all been burns. You've all we've all heard the stories. I invested 30 minutes. And so when I got that, I got that email you're talking about.
00:39:12
Speaker
So I got that the, hey, sorry. I got that email two days ago. I got the, hey, we're still sorry. Here's 100 points in this trinket. I got that yesterday. okay i use I use my 100 points. I use some of them to buy some like um some some cosmetics. I bought ah bought some stuff in the store that was already out there. So I thought that was me. And since I only spent 30 minutes, I feel like I'm on the positive.
00:39:37
Speaker
I got so are so are there already new cosmetics that you can buy that aren't in the game? I don't know if they're in the game or not. I will. I haven't played that much, but it's like ah different paints and stuff for like ships and how cool clothing and things like I have. I haven't got them yet because I haven't got that far in the game, but you can buy stuff. And like I also have the I also redeemed the Disney plus.
00:40:02
Speaker
Reward, but I haven't like received that yet either in the game, but there they should be queued up It says when I will get them, but I haven't gotten to that point yet. That's cool Like I'm looking forward to it and I'm actually like like I said to you yeah I'm yeah I'm being really pedantic and really old farty when it comes down to well I should I've paid for this to be three three days before but quite frankly I
00:40:29
Speaker
I would be a danger to myself had I got it two days ago. because i it took a that It took a lot of me to not do that. Yeah, that work would be backing up in the background. And now I know I can have a really, really clear weekend, which I'm really looking forward to. But because in doing so, I don't know, we're going to talk about this later on, but we could might as well jump in and and talk about it now. yeah um I've avoided whores, love you whores, and Eric, love you Eric. I've avoided them because what I found... And we talked a little bit about this before we start we we started recording. What I found was that I was so invested in their Twitch channels. And Randy, shit. Randy, when when when Survivor came out, um I mean, there I was at two in the frigging morning um talking to Randy. And it was sometimes it was sometimes its just the two of us on on on his channel.
00:41:23
Speaker
um And I've avoided it at the moment because what happened was by watching initially Eric, then Hawes, then Randy on their playthroughs of Survivor, I got kind of addicted as as you do, which is the reason why i kind of Twitch exists. I got really, really addicted to to breaking all this all the all the rules on the school night and listening and i'm watching them that late at night. um And I lost my own desire of playing the game. I still haven't finished Survivor.
00:41:53
Speaker
I still haven't finished it. Um, I was quite far through it, but I got to a point in the end where I was, I had so much vested interest in what those guys were doing and getting and seeing them come to the end. And then the hilarity of watching Erica get do it, do it the second time round on, on, on Uber hard mode, uh, which was, which was hilarious. Um, and God, I felt for that guy. Anyway, the point being is I never completed it myself.
00:42:22
Speaker
And it's it's like, I'm not doing it this time. I'm not doing it much as I love those guys and I want to support them on their Twitch channels. I've got to try and get through it myself. At least on, at least the story mode part, I've got to just get through it.
00:42:36
Speaker
um Well, I mean, I'm I'm engage like if if I if I watch other people's streams and see parts in the story like it doesn't even have to be the full story. Like if they're just if people are a little bit further than me, then like I think this is an element of like.
00:42:56
Speaker
how much time do we have in a day? Like, and that's some, cause people like criticized or asked me in the past, like why I just smashed through games. Like when, when starfield came out, like I like dedicated my life to just like,
00:43:09
Speaker
I put an insane amount of time in that in a very short amount of time. It's like, if I see, if I see people playing and they're further than me, then I don't want, I will not want to do the work to get to that point. So I will just drop it. Like I'll just drop it. It's like, that's, that's a flaw of my own and the time out of time I have in a day. So like, I need to be in front of it. That's exactly, that's exactly, that's exactly where, where it's really interesting. Cause you end up watching someone like, um, Eric in particular.
00:43:39
Speaker
who is a completionist, an absolute completionist. um And I love, I love, love, love, unfortunately, because of the time he records, I love watching his Red Dead 2.
00:43:52
Speaker
um
00:43:56
Speaker
Replay. I'm loving. I'm really loving that because it is. it It's all there's something quite cathartic about it. um does Does that make sense? You know, in the, you know, it's something quite cathartic about it because I have no intent to go back over that game again. Oh, I don't I could be honest and say I don't know if I've ever. And I never had a game that I have completed. I don't think I've ever gone back and played a game again like to complete. I've never beaten a game multiple times.
00:44:26
Speaker
Oh, I have. Yeah, yeah that there's that there's a couple that I have. um The most prominent, I mean, Red Dev One I did. Because what they did was they released Red Dev One and then they and then they um they released a DLC pack, or sorry, ah ah ah yeah, no DLC pack that was called Undead Nightmare, which basically um yeah they It was basically Red Dead with zombies. And it was like, yes, man, that's totally up my alley. And so I did that. And then and then by completing that, maybe a year, maybe two years after I completed the original game, it made me think about the original game and how much I really enjoyed it. It's way before Red Dead 2. So I did that. But the one that I've, there are two games that I have played to death. And that is um Mass Effect 2.
00:45:20
Speaker
Um, because some of the decisions you make impact the partners that you have for three. Uh, and in fact, one and two as well is is also the same way, but, but, but two in particular, I wanted to kind of almost prove.
00:45:39
Speaker
not prove myself, but run through every scenario. After I'd finished, I'd i kind of go back and look up what decision tree or what decision making changed the circumstance. and And then you have to make a different kind of set sacrifice um based on that decision. So everything, yeah and I played that thing to death. What else was there? Oh, and the cyberpunk as well. There are five different ending endings of cyberpunk.
00:46:06
Speaker
Now, Cyberpunk, I need to go back. There's A, there's DLC that I've heard is absolutely awesome. um But secondly, um I played it through, and I don't know if you've played that game, but there's a moment where you can save it before you get into the end game in air quotes. um And then you can have four or five different endings, depending on the decisions you make then as well.
00:46:31
Speaker
Um, that's what i play through that watch it's almost like stuff or youtube yeah and i can be yeah but it's almost like a shit myself so it's almost like a cheat because you can actually, you only have to play half an hour's worth of gameplay to get that different ending because of your last, because of that particular tactical sales save point. And so it's not really, really that, that, that bigger deal, but certainly mass effect two is the one that I would say I've played.
00:46:59
Speaker
way way way too much of uh it's also my favorite game ever so um anyway that's that so yeah speaking of uh the games that have decisions there's i'll have to tell the story sometime about getting madison into the telltale games like are you familiar with those decision Yeah, I just I can just tell it really quick. It's very it's very funny. And it's it's something that she still gets mad about every once in a while. She's very into those games, like the story narrative. And I was she has me play like the action parts, like especially like The Walking Dead or The Wolf Among Us. And there was in The Wolf Among Us. I won't like spoil it because I think that is a really good game. There's a part where you can make a decision that.
00:47:44
Speaker
I was very annoyed with a certain character. And so when I was presented with the decision to make, I chose to remove that character from my presence. yeah um And it is a, and she was, she did not like that I did that. I'm like, they were irritating and I don't have to deal with them ever again.
00:48:04
Speaker
And so from the rest of the game, it's always brought up. It's like, oh, you did, you did that thing. And so every time that that is mentioned, which was every conversation from then going forward, she just looked at me and be like, I can't believe you did that. And it's like, they're not there. They're not there anymore. Like I don't have to deal with them. They're, they were very annoying. And so I could probably bring it up to her today. I'm like, Hey, remember that time when XYZ happens?
00:48:29
Speaker
Why do you, do this why do you, why do you go out of your way to wind her up? Let it, let it, let it. No, I'm saying I could, I'm not going to. Okay, fine. I made a decision in the moment. I'm like, this person drives me absolutely nuts. And so when presented with the option of like, Oh, that's an option. Okay. Yeah. Take it bomb. They're like, why did you do that? It's like, because it's what I wanted to do.
00:48:51
Speaker
like And so it didn't just beat me over the head with it like from then on. I do like those games. is this say I think they've kind of gone, haven't they? But I do like those games. I think they went out of business or got bought or something, but they've like... ah The Walking Dead ones I thought were awesome. They then it did a Batman one that was I thought was pretty good. And it's either Bioshock or it's... Bioshock it's...
00:49:18
Speaker
um
00:49:23
Speaker
So the Bioshock or Bad or I'm sure it's Bioshock they did as well. Trying to think it's quite steampunk-y. Anyway, point being is at the end, they're really tight, especially the Batman one they did, I thought was really, really good. Really, really good. I like them all except for the Game of Thrones one. That was the only one that was just like, I hate this. I don't want this anymore. Yeah. So going back to Outlaws,
00:49:49
Speaker
because I won't have a summary and for you until next week. In the half an hour that you did play, was it any good? I mean, bearing in mind, my expectations are for it not to be hard. I don't want a i don't want a hard game. I don't want a particularly complex game. I want a something I can pick up and spend hours just running around the galaxy and not not being particularly, what's the word I'm thinking of, skillful um yeah in my gameplay. I just wanna be able to kind of, in the half an hour that you're able to play, was it good fun? So my my total gameplay is much more than half an hour. That was just my first night. I have caught up and gone way past that so far.
00:50:38
Speaker
um I like it is early. It as is early to to to tell like I'm. It is I am enjoying I'm enjoying the game. I think it's i'm I'm having a lot of fun. I don't want to be like it's great because I it's it's still new and I haven't really got into the meat of it like.
00:50:57
Speaker
I'm still getting like new menus and new options and like lots of introductions of stuff. um Like, I thought it was, it it takes a while and all of a sudden it's like, oh, now I'm to finally do the title screen, like where it's like Star Wars Outlaws. It's like, oh man, that was like,
00:51:13
Speaker
That took that took a bit. And so now I'm getting into the meat of it. I'm enjoying it. I do think there's going to be it feels really well thought out in a lot of ways, like um to kind of talk about non story stuff for a second, the amount of accessibility options and features and things that you can do to kind of like assistive assistive controls and excessive devices stuff seems really really well thought out like if you just want to play the game for the story
00:51:44
Speaker
like even down to a point where like every like they've shown in the previews that like playing table card games and stuff is part of it's going to be part of this game. um I got into a little bit of that yesterday and you can you can even toggle the cards into being like oh you don't like symbols well they can be numbers like just the level of thought feels really intentional, ah not just the normal head bob or color like color ah assistive color modes and things like that. There is an I was overwhelmed when I went because I was like to go into those menus and see what all is in there. There is an insane amount of assistive technology kind of stuff in there, which I thought was really, really cool. um The the worlds, the worlds that I've seen so far feel huge.
00:52:34
Speaker
Um, while. And I like that there's so it doesn't seem very. Cause sometimes you play these open world games and it's, it feels very closed off where it's like, there's just not a lot of doors um or you feel very controlled. Like it feels expansive. It feels like it could grow, but also not overwhelming. Like the doors just don't open, but you still get like movement and wind windiness. And I'm i'm enjoying the gameplay so far. Like it doesn't seem.
00:53:05
Speaker
ah like little things are gonna be incredibly difficult, like ah like combat or whatever. um It doesn't seem like some of the stuff with Jedi Survivor felt like the focus is combat. um And like the intricacies and the timing and things like that, this feels much more well balanced. And I think that's where i what my so my issues with just the Survivor Series are, where it's like, it got to be very,
00:53:33
Speaker
puzzle-y, like, climby, puzzle-y, jumpy timing, which is fine. I enjoy that, but, like, it sometimes just beats you over the head with it too much. Like, I want more story. I want more interaction and side hustles and side games and reputation system and decision trees and more well-bought. This seems like it's the kitchen sink and everything else.
00:53:53
Speaker
um giving it to me in a slow enough manner that I'm kind of getting it but not overwhelming me. That's really positive because that's the kind of game that I think I'm looking forward to. I thought, I mean, I did, I did, I did Fallen Jedi. Fallen Jedi? Jedi Fallen. Fallen Order.
00:54:21
Speaker
Fallen Order even, Jedi Fallen Order, thank you. um I played through that um and then went over in in and you know new game plus mode and the rest of it um and did it because there was nothing else around at the time um and didn't feel the benefit of playing at the second time round.
00:54:46
Speaker
I'm not a completionist. I'm not, I don't, I don't want every pod and show. I don't want every, you know, and i'm I'm not particularly bothered about, uh, that kind of stuff, but I didn't feel the benefit of. Oh, of the replay. And, you know, as, as I said, fall in order. I didn't, I didn't, I didn't, I didn't complete in the ad, uh, which I'm ashamed to say because that's not like me because I'm normally my OCD side just needs to at least Complete it 90 90% of me story. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I want to experience a story. Yeah. It's like, Oh, did you get that collectible tech? Hell no. I didn't get that. No. Well, no, no, but and no, no, no, no. And I respect people not rushing through it though. No, no, no, but, but, but, but that, um, so for example, they were, they were, Oh God.
00:55:31
Speaker
it's when you It's before you and I first met that we were talking to each other on Twitch when Eric was when eric was was was was playing. And there was those two goddamn monsters down in that pit that kept kicking his ass, kicking his ass, kicking his ass, kicking his ass. And it was, ah i I'm not saying it's funny, but it was, it was it was yeah, it was, it was funny. um But it was that kind of like,
00:56:01
Speaker
Oh God, if you've got to if you've got to do that to progress the game, ah and I i respect there's there's there's a certain amount of grinding that has to be done in order for you to take on a boss at some point, but I just want to mooch. I just want to mooch about and enjoy myself. So so anyway, listen, ah we can have a more detailed conversation this time next week, but I'm glad you're enjoying it.
00:56:29
Speaker
Um, and it would be great if it was a more.
00:56:37
Speaker
Switch your brain off. Mooch about. Shoot a few people. Smuggle some spice. Play some cards. It's got it's got it feels like it's got a good mix of everything. So like I played the first time last time last night and it's like, ooh, I like this because it's also like it does feel a little bit more like.
00:57:00
Speaker
like ah Like playing a real game like it feels like I'm I'm actually like engaging my brain trying to like do odds Like it play it feels like playing a real card game inside of the game It's not some like roll a dice and see roll a dice and see how it goes so it's like he does have the more challenging things about the rest you can just mope about on a run around and look at pet animals and shooty shooty and progress the story. And i yeah, it's all right. Knife. Right. Listen, we we're I did not expect to spend.
00:57:32
Speaker
we're an hour already so um let's jump in to the news now there's something that i want to talk to you about so if you do you mind if i go first because i think the information you've got i guess i guess that's fine thanks so uh all i picked up on this week was uh basically today um was um The Highlander reboot with Henry Cavill, it's filming in January. So there was always talk of there being a Highlander, which is, I don't know, one, ah is is again in my top 10 as being some very, you know, a very, very impactful film for me as a kid. um That's going to be rebooted with Henry Cavill playing the part of Conor McLeod.
00:58:14
Speaker
of the Cloud McCloud, interested. Anyone else? I probably would have said, why the hell are you doing this? But now we know it's Cavill. I'm thinking, oh, this actually might be quite cool. um That starts filming in ju end January. I saw a trailer this week, The War of the Rohirrim. This is the um Peter Jackson animated venture um coming to the theater. is ah I knew it was an animated film, but it's actually coming to the it's coming to the cinema.
00:58:42
Speaker
um It basically tells the story of the Rahirim and their alliance with Gondor, um I think, um prior to the times that we that we see in the Third Age. Is that when?
00:58:56
Speaker
Lord of the Rings is set, not the second date or its second age. I can't remember. Anyway, point being, is it's it's it's a prequel um to both the Hobbit and the um Lord of the Rings called the War of the Rehearing. That looks good. um Any Gundam fans out there? I'm i'm all right, but i'm not but I'm not a massive, massive fan.
00:59:21
Speaker
um There's a Gundam and um a new brand new Gundam animation coming out called Requiem for Vengeance. That's coming out in October on Netflix. And it seems like they've spent a heck of a lot of money to replicate the kind of feel of Japanese anime because it's it's actually it's actually been developed, my understanding, from some of those old those old animation houses over in over in Japan. But it's got a wicked cast, I believe, that is going to be doing the voice acting. um Don't ask me. and My research only went so far. um pacific ring Pacific Rim, sorry. um A prequel TV series is in development. So this is this is um Pacific Rim.
01:00:08
Speaker
The second one I didn't care for, but the first one in particular, I thought, Oh, that's quite cool. Um, I like the idea. Didn't really go anywhere, but it's, I mean, you know what Lucy's like, it's like big monsters busting up Tokyo. She freaking loves it. So yeah, that's coming out and looking forward to that. And then most importantly for me at the moment where my head's at is at Supercell, the film, the TV series that I told you about last week that I've started and have now finished. So I'm jumping the gun a little bit. I've now finished it. Series two's been from film, which I'm really, really keen about.
01:00:45
Speaker
Again, it feels it's got that vibe of it's got that London London youth
01:00:54
Speaker
that London affected gangster youth vibe of Attack the Block, but with the premise of heroes. And it's really, really, really, really good. And if you do get over there and you can stand the British accent and a lot of swearing and scalduggery going on, I really, really do recommend it. So Supercell series two is coming out as well. That's been confirmed. um And that's it for news from me. but And I wanted to be quick because I want to pass over to what you've,
01:01:24
Speaker
heard about, which I saw on social media, but I didn't have the time to investigate.
Media and Entertainment Discussions
01:01:30
Speaker
So I'm going to I'm going to kick the can on that one a little bit first. I'm going to put that at the toward the end so we can make sure we have time for it because I don't want to. ah But just a couple of things that are real brief, I won't even dig into them too much. I did see the trailer for Superman, which is the Christopher Reeves documentary. I think that's really cool. Seems like something i'd I'd love to pick up and and watch when that's.
01:01:54
Speaker
whatever one is available. um Another piece of news that came up was ah kind of the early, early confirmations are kind of not even necessary confirmations, but like the this is that stuff that we talked about last week of like maybe we're a little too behind the curtain. um Kind of talking about agents and things like that and reaching out to people about potentially doing a Ted Lasso season next another season to Ted Lasso. um Personally, um I have pretty strong feelings about this. I I really wish they wouldn't.
01:02:27
Speaker
um that i i I think that story ended really, really well. I loved that show. I absolutely love that show. I've watched that show. I don't rewatch shows a lot, but I've watched that show multiple times with different people to get them introduced. And I love Ted Lasso. And I'm just very cynical, I'll say, that there is a story worth telling to bring yeah bring that show back.
01:02:55
Speaker
um But we'll see, I'll be optimistic. If they do it, all I'll watch it. But I just, similar, I feel much more strongly about this than I do with like Shogun. Cause I remember when the show, the Rick Shogun season two, it's like, man, it was like, it was it was packaged and there's a little bow on it. But I am optimistic about Shogun season two. This I'm like,
01:03:15
Speaker
why are we Why are we messing with it? It's a little bit like how I felt about... Stop editing things. Just leave it alone. Yeah, it's a little bit it's a little bit like how I felt about Dark Matter. I mean, Dark Matter if it's done right um is an amazing... It's an amazing... um
01:03:33
Speaker
one lonely season, I thought, and they're going to bring it back. And they tied up our hero's journey beautifully. And it was like a packaged product. It's like, it is. Yeah, tragic, tragic, beautiful, heartwarming, all in the same vein. And it was so, so good. And and the the message at the end was really, really clear, really, really clear. So we know we'll see. ah we Unfortunately, um it's a little bit like, you know I don't want it to be, we talked a couple of weeks back, ah you know there's a danger of, let's call it the walking dead syndrome.
01:04:13
Speaker
where you've got a good thing going, you don't have an exit plan while you're while you're churning in the numbers and you're you know you're making the green, it's kind of like everything's good, but where do you go if you've got no you've got no plan to develop it or or indeed to end it? And I think that's the main problem with most things. I think that's the problem that happened with, did you did you watch Westworld when it was out?
01:04:37
Speaker
I think that's the problem that happened with Westworld as well in that you know you had season one, which was like, holy moly. Season two was like, yeah okay, is there's a journey there. Season three, and it was like, oh.
01:04:49
Speaker
So you got Jesse and Jesse. in You can't keep adding. You can't just keep adding and adding and adding. Like sometimes yeah it's like it's like eating a really nice meal. And then when you're finished, the chef walks out and it's like, well, I think it needed more salt and then just starts throwing salt in your mouth. Yeah, exactly's exactly. and It needed that. It's like it didn't. It was fine how it was. Leave it alone. It's that business side of things of like sometimes the success is what it was. And you can't but say it's not a safe bet to just keep building on that that same franchise.
01:05:20
Speaker
And just certainly not if you're trying to replicate the same thing or churn the same thing over and over and over again. Like, unfortunately, they did with with with with Walking Dead. Yeah, oh that's cool. No, I'm really I'm really cool. and Any other news that you picked up on? Another another kind of my a small one that we can we can chat about more later. It has to do with ah Japan, our friend Catherine, and also Madison happened to send these links at the same time. But a new Nintendo museum opened in Kyoto. Oh, wow. That I think would be cool. We can chat about it.
01:05:49
Speaker
There's tons of articles out there about it, but for those who are going to celebration and I mean, it's a ways away. It's down in Kyoto, but might be interesting for those to to talk about classic video games and stuff like that. ah So there that's that's kind of neat. The final piece of news that I have is um
01:06:11
Speaker
Amondla Stenberg on Instagram posted a real, a series of reels where she was speaking frankly. And for those who didn't get to watch it, ah she's just kind of milling about and wanted to talk to and address the fans of the acolyte.
01:06:33
Speaker
And with kind of in kind of regards to the news that the acolyte had been canceled, not renewed, et cetera. And really, she really kind of did. It's kind of like so reels only last like 30 seconds and then it just kind of rolls in the next one. So she did she spoke for like, I don't know, 10 minutes or something like it was it was a while. Like she spoke a lot um yeah about really thanking the fans, feeling privileged.
01:06:57
Speaker
um one feeling privileged to be a part of the project and really kind of thanking some of the people who are involved, the creators, Lucasfilm, um and just kind of being um still in shock and awe that she got to be a part of it and really having ah a really great time um and in the kind of the disappointment and empathizing with the fans that it really spoke to and kind of the heartbreak that they must be feeling that it's not that it's not reviewed that it's not being renewed. um And then also kind of addressing some of, not some of, but like the the reactions um from before the show even came out from ah a subset of the fan base who are just ah the worst kind of individuals who feel like they need to
01:07:53
Speaker
take their frustrations out and whatever whatever is going on in their lives and just this vitriol and shittiness out on the cast and people involved. Even before the show came out, um it was a real it was really well-spoken set of reels um and really heartfelt and just really kind of disappointing to to just see like the hurt in somebody, like from somebody, ah from the things that have been said to her and others,
01:08:22
Speaker
um and just like kind of calling it out and just like the the hate and things like that like not ending super specific like being talked about but we all know what it is but just she kind of she talked about it and and just really thanking those who were supportive, um including Lucasfilm and and things like that, um encouraging people to go vote in November, um and just really encouraging people to open their minds to to new experiences, new ideas, um to not immediately respond with,
01:09:01
Speaker
where ah vitriol, whether like in being being mindful of your words, like, I mean, this is something we talk about a lot of like, there's a way to ask questions or to ah talk about something and even have criticism. But being mindful of the the way that you speak and the the the words that you use, and the effect that those have on others, like, it is it is our responsibility, it's my responsibility. When I'm speaking,
01:09:30
Speaker
like it doesn't matter but what my intention is like like this is a part of maturity it's like it doesn't matter what my intention is it it matters how it's perceived and how other people feel or interpret that like that's on me not on them like that i feel like this is basic maturity stuff like if if if i'm hurting people's feelings of the way i'm saying something that is i need to i need to be more mindful of the way i'm saying things like period not it's not up for debate or discussion like and she kind of talked about a lot of that but I don't know I it is the thing I took like I'm not going to
01:10:06
Speaker
dive into the the acolyte stuff over again we've we've beat that horse but it just it's it's heartbreaking because this isn't the first like i've i've been i've seen a lot of these recently of like people like whether it's public figures content creators etc like really kind of stepping up and being like hey you know i get i get that i'm like in the public eye but like this is getting out of hand like we are people Well, it is is it is getting out of hand, especially when when um Disney or Lucasfilm have a responsibility to look after their people um and to make business decisions based on... make business decisions and inform business decisions on... on...
01:10:54
Speaker
an understanding of what the reaction to those business decisions would be. Let's say the whole thing is canceled. Then, you know, we already see people out there that are taking laps of honor saying that we got it canceled. It was down to us. yeah It was down to us as people. And then we know we're not too far. We're only stone's throw away now from a bunch of kids that are going to be part of a new Star Wars story for us.
01:11:24
Speaker
And oh my God, if if those same people are given, that are probably feeling pretty indestrut indestructible at the moment and pretty good about themselves because they have this, they they they believe this false narrative that they had something to do with with with shutting down the acolyte. I really, really hope that, no, not I hope, I would expect nay demand that Lucasfilm and Disney look after these kids because they're going to be an open target. You know what I mean? They're going to be a... I really feel for a mandler. I really feel for Leslie, especially around that you know how just how bloody proud she was of the product that she produced, or the art, sorry, that she produced. I feel for all of them,
01:12:21
Speaker
but ultimately, you know, tomorrow's another working day and they can move on. ah I, I don't know what to say. i I don't know how to explain it and I certainly don't know how to fix it, but good God, I think if, I think if I see the kind of vitriol and the kind of hate going on these kids and it not be it was already but targeted at these kids, because let's face it,
01:12:53
Speaker
if If the acolyte wasn't targeted at this particular minority, or the you know it it wasn't targeted at their demographic, sorry then I can sure as hell bet that skeleton crew is not going to be their demographic either. They're not going to be the target market for that. And they're going to get on there they got to get on their on the on the soapbox. And i I have to say that if I if i see any of those kids and I'm probably sounding a little bit over emotional here, but if i if I see any of those kids taking shit, well, I will get back, I guess, into a bit of trolling myself, but I dare say that might actually ruin Star Wars for me going forward. Does that does that make sense?
01:13:48
Speaker
It makes sense. And this is something I've been stewing on a lot recently. Like, I mean, some of this is for over the last couple of years. I to your point a minute ago about like Disney and Lucasfilm having a responsibility to not in the current context, we're talking about skeleton crew and like protecting these kids and and things like that.
01:14:09
Speaker
there i have i have I have two two kind of major things I'd like to see. when One of them involved a pretty heavy statement, um which i don't I don't think people talk about a lot.
01:14:23
Speaker
um And as somebody who is in tech and I've been in tech for a very long time and I've worked but pretty close to some of these these areas um for quite a long time. And I know I have lots of friends who work in these areas. um And so I feel like there's a level at which I am familiar with um and I am familiar with the some of the attitude and mentality that goes into some of these things. But my biggest my biggest thing that just really grinds my gears and like, I don't mean this is a negative way, but this this is just ah ah a, i go I want people to know kind of where I stand on it. A big issue that I see with social media today and like the negative discourse and the way that some of these people are treated, a lot of that burden falls at the individuals that have created the social media websites.
01:15:18
Speaker
yeah there is oh There is only so much. and that And that rock starts at the top and it rolls down and hits a lot of people who've been involved all the way down. There is a lot of talk about, like we are, we we you and I focus a lot on positivity and bringing the positive sides of things that we can, knowing that we only have so much effect and we have a small bubble. I am not somebody who is naive enough to believe that I can go onto Twitter and reply to shitty comments with positive comments and try to debate people and and and have an effect.
01:15:51
Speaker
because I know, I know personally that the reason a lot of this have trickles to the top is because engagement is engagement. Like, if you comment on negativity, that boosts the engagement store score and brings it to the top. It doesn't, it's not able, it doesn't determine, oh, this is negative, push it below. Like, so arguing with the trolls on the internet just surfaces them and brings them to the top even more because you know what? Social media websites have been I will not say purposely because all the little cogs in the machine are just trying to do their job and make the line go up and therefore have created a monster based on metrics that says any kind of engagement is more time on the site, increases MAU, so encourage it.
01:16:40
Speaker
they don't realize the damage that they've done. We've we've heard legislation about the the Instagram stuff with teen girl suicide rates. And everybody just goes, we don't know, we don't know. And it only gets worse with AI. And I am somebody who firmly sits in the camp of pointing the finger at people involved with social media and be like, as much as you want to sit there and skirt blame,
01:17:02
Speaker
you We're all in this together. We all have a hand in this and some people more than others. Yeah. um Yeah. And I did. Yeah. You're right. And there's an awful lot that Disney cannot.
01:17:14
Speaker
impact. They can't change people's opinions. They can't. So that's there's not that's the second half of this. that there's There's not enough money in the world to to make people nice. you know There's not enough goodwill in the world to to to to bring everyone around. It's their corporate and ethical and moral responsibility to look after these kids.
01:17:40
Speaker
And so that's that's the second part of the self. I'm pretty much teflon coated, you understand what I mean by that? i'm yeah very much yeah yeah I'm pretty robust when it comes down to all the shit. and I feel sorry for an awful lot of of people that take shit every single day and feel hounded um by social media, but when kids are involved,
01:18:03
Speaker
I, it's such a, it's such a passionate subject for me that, and I'm probably over, I'm probably worrying too much. I'm probably being over cautious, but you're not good goal now it's completely valid good God, Lucasfilm, good God, Disney. If you do not protect these kids,
01:18:25
Speaker
and you wrap them in cotton wool, followed by chain mail, followed by Teflon.
Protecting Child Actors
01:18:31
Speaker
follow you know If you do not look after these kids, i i i I could be as dramatic as saying I'm out because it's so important. you know The content. some people Some people will respond to that and say, well, what are they supposed to do? I have two proposals for you.
01:18:48
Speaker
Here's two proposals when that say, what is Disney supposed to do with the public figures and how are they supposed to do this? It's like, all right, here, take a stance. First, first ah turn off comments on your on your content. You'd be amazed at the at the and what that can do and the visibility that that, the lack of visibility that that and the opportunity that that will bring to to to people to do these kinds of things.
01:19:15
Speaker
Easy. Second, and that I think is more dramatic, and probably I'm one of the few people sitting on campus, I think Disney, Star Wars, Lucasfilm, whoever should take a stance and leave X personally. Like, don't you don't need to pro you don't need to market your content on there because you can't disable.
01:19:31
Speaker
like they can't as a brand they can't disable ads like amen brother yeah you're the biggest you're the biggest media company in the world i mean people know who you are i don't see any co-curler adverts on x anymore i mean what the hell are you doing placating that idiot anyway yeah But yeah, they don't need comments. They don't. They don't. I think that the biggest one is like if you want to promote your content, especially when the show starts airing, disable comments. You don't need it. People don't need people don't need the opportunity to to trash these kids like the.
01:20:06
Speaker
The kids are the kids are innocent. I don't I'm I I will I will argue to I'm blue in the face with anybody who wants to have an individual argument, like, oh, public figures deserve criticism, yada, yada, yada. It's like, whatever. That's fine. But there's a way you can say it. There's a place and there's and I think some kids get a pass because a lot of times child actors and stuff are there by choice. Yeah, yeah. Come on. I mean, at the and at the end of the day, you know,
01:20:34
Speaker
and Are they public figures or are they doing a job? I mean, they're doing a job well at at the end at the end of the day. And and whether they become public figures is is a choice, is a choice in many, many cases. You think about people that we know
Speculation on Kathleen Kennedy
01:20:49
Speaker
that we know that have retreated from the Hollywood system. Some people, sorry, some actors have have embraced it and they're part ah you know part of their their shtick or part of their brand.
01:21:03
Speaker
or part of their identity is is engaging with fans, with media, with the paps, with all that kind of stuff. Others, on the other hand, um have not. I mean, it's only been in recent years, really, that Harrison Ford has got you know has got back into the the the the Hollywood moment. I mean, the guy the guy retreat typically into themselves.
01:21:29
Speaker
No, no celebrity in their account. They all. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Except for except for the small people. And that's where this gets especially brutal. You have new actors and like new actors and children who do not have the power and the money to if they do have a a media presence a social presence, then they don't have but the the means to do that. So that's another thing that like that.
01:21:54
Speaker
Lucasfilm Star Wars Disney can can do is Provide more behind the scenes cover. So if you do have um These if these individuals do have a presence invest in people stop There's always criticism like the National Football League. Yeah, they take advantage of their players and prey on people just to bolster the league. Do that for your actors and stuff as well. Yeah, no, exactly. Whatever your budget is, double it if needs be. And rather than invest your money on the visual magnificence, carve a little bit back for the behind the scenes
01:22:40
Speaker
wellbeing that needs to be going on as well. no i I'm 100% in agreement with you. It's a bit like, you know, at the moment that there's rumors going around again that um I can't believe this is going around. and This is one thing I did pick up this week, that Kathleen Kennedy is going to be fired. She's going to be fired and f in in FY, sorry, in 2025. And again, because of the acolyte situation. That's what I'd love to know. By who? I don't know, mate. I don't know.
01:23:12
Speaker
because because of the the acolyte rumors. It's like, oh my God, seriously guys, it's like the woman is 71 years old. I don't want to be working when I'm 71 years old. I don't know about anyone else. I may have to, because I can't afford not to, but the point being, that I think she's got a chunk of change.
01:23:30
Speaker
I don't think she needs to. I don't think she needs another blockbuster or something else to actually, if you like, pay the mortgage or pay off whatever debt she's got left. and I doubt she's actually got any debts. But, you know, that that because of the because of the the situation with um with, uh, the acolyte and I'm not even going to name the pages, but they're already talking about, um, Oh, she's going to be fired next year. It's like, actually a contract runs out of the end of her extension on the contract runs out of the end of 2024. So there's probably a good chance she's saying, do you know what? I'm good now.
01:24:09
Speaker
And they'll take it as a victory. They'll take it as a fucking victory. They'd celebrate anyways, because it's like, OK, what would she get? Did she would she get fired for making it or canceling it? Because I have no idea. I have no idea. But it's like, but even though it's like, what are you fucking saying? It's like it's like it's like predicting that one day it's going to rain. Yes, of course it's going to rain one day.
01:24:34
Speaker
And do you take do you take a credit for the day to say, oh, it's raining today. It's like, well, yeah, but not on the day you said. I say, yeah, that's irrelevant. It's raining today. It's almost got kind of stupid mentality is that of course the lady, anyone would want to leave and spend more time with their with their partner, with their husband, with their wife, with their significant other and really enjoy life going forward. And and I know what's coming.
01:25:05
Speaker
that they're going to take victory out of it. It's like, well, you've been talking about this since 2015. So well done, guys. Well done. You win. I love you win. I just love that. It's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like saying individual. Go ahead, go ahead. No, I know. It's about to say, it's like, say it's like trying to predict someone, you know, one day, Sean, you're going to be dead. Well, well done. It's inevitable.
01:25:31
Speaker
So one day you're going to leave that but one day you're going to leave that position. It's like, yeah, no shit that that day is going to come no matter what. But I love the brain rot that people have that they think that like one person is of is it truly affects an or an amass a billion dollar organization that much like truly, especially especially when that's a creative like Disney, like Bob Iger, shape act like that is different because it is a it's a it's a billion-dollar masthead, a trillion-dollar masthead for a lot of different things that you see the changes in. But a creative organization like Lucasfilm to truly believe that it is not a ah collective and that one individual is solely responsible for the minutiae of decisions that have been made is is
01:26:21
Speaker
absolutely baffling me, because it's what's funny is like, e okay, um I can't believe I'm in even entertaining this. What's funny to me is like, okay, say, Kath and Kennedy left. And they, and Filoni was said, you're number one, which will never happen, because he's a creative, not a business. And like Lucasfilm at the end of the day is a business. And then what are they going to do if more crap comes out in their minds, air quotes, crap? What are they is it just going to be the
Fandom and Identity
01:26:49
Speaker
shifting lens of like,
01:26:51
Speaker
Oh, Filoni's been, like, who are they gonna point at? Like, h i' i don't it's a rhetorical question. I don't care. The next one in line. The next one in line. And to me, this is- It's that stupid. It's that that's stupid. I have been, before, ah but when I used to engage on Twitter, I have been in, I have been in discussions with folks that believed that there was no discord around the the prequels.
01:27:20
Speaker
They thought that the guys that put together the the people versus George Lucas documentary was a few oddballs that unlike the the majority of people thought that the prequels were great. And it's like, you're just creating your own narrative and and and believing it.
01:27:48
Speaker
it's it's like um It's like one of, one of the guys that I work with, it's like somebody that I work with or that works for me coming to, coming to me and saying, um, right, this is what we're going to do. This is what we're going to do. And this is, this is the results that it's going to be. And it's in a lovely, beautiful little PowerPoint presentation. It's like, yeah, but how are you going to get there? I haven't thought about that. I haven't thought about that. Just the funny part is, is there's fucking substance behind any of it.
01:28:17
Speaker
It's easy to disprove. That's what's funny about it. It's like just find any individual who is around during that time who is not chronically on the Internet and social media and ask them about the prequels and they still hold the majority of those same opinions that a lot of people have like changed about like like the the the um the redemption of Jar Jar Binks kind of stuff like where everybody's like, Oh, I liked the prequel. I actually liked them. It's like, yeah, that shows how much of a hive mind a lot of this is, is that people who've been disconnected from the discourse of the prequels and haven't like haven't like don't realize that things have come around.
01:28:54
Speaker
I still meet people and talk to people who are like aren't hardcore Star Wars fans who are like, oh, the prequels were shit. It's like, ah, you you you don't realize that people have like changed about that. And like people like are like forgiving and openly acknowledge, and they're not just being like, yeah, Jar Jar Binks did suck. And so it's it's kind of a challenge that people go, hey, just because people hate it. And don't get me wrong, I am one of those people that did not warm to the prequels.
01:29:24
Speaker
And I now appreciate them now love them. So I'm I'm I'm i'm a hypocrite um But I'm okay with that because it but you could be it there's a difference between being a critic and being an asshole Those are the two different exactly exactly. It's like a cherry pit stuff I like um and leave the and leave the other stuff, but but you know and we had we had that you know, we had that You know about the store, you know um I went to go and see the 25th anniversary of of Phantom Menace with the with the Scruffy Boys. I haven't had so much fun in ages. I haven't laughed so hard. And we all all three of us admitted, you know, we're very, very clear in our minds that some of it is absolutely amazing. And some of it is absolutely cheesy as heck. But with hindsight,
01:30:15
Speaker
that cheese is what makes it even better. Because because if it was if it was taken a little bit more seriously, it would end up like someone like met Rebel Moon, for God's sakes. Do you know what I'm trying to say? is that is that It's that ridiculousness about the whole thing that makes it so makes it so charming, which 25 years ago, I didn't have either maturity, and and secondly, the the the expectations at the time to perhaps positively receive something like that. But anyway, listen, the point being, to your point, you don't shit on it because the kids back then, it was their entry point for Star Wars and it was good for them. I'm not gonna
01:31:03
Speaker
You know, the fact that I had grown up and I was 20 years older at that moment in time than than when I saw the OT, it's like, well, yeah, of course it's not. Of course I'm not going to like it as much as I did the OT because this ain't told me anymore. Anyway. at the At the end of the day, round and round meant to be it's it's meant to be entertainment. If you're not entertained, go go watch something else. It's that it's that simple.
01:31:30
Speaker
it's It's the the the point where we get into the problems as we're social media and think our lack of community as a society and as citizens. makes us pick encampments that make us define our personalities as entertainment has now become a personality. It's like, oh, my personality is hating Star Wars because it is not entertaining to me. And like, it's just, it's like, you've lost the plot. Like, we've lost the plot. Take a step back. Life is a buffet.
01:32:02
Speaker
If you don't, if you don't like eating your tomatoes, then don't eat the tomatoes. But also don't bitch endlessly about tomatoes. Like, yeah who cares? It's entertainment. It's not your personality. It's not your life. Leave people alone. Move on like life short. i Did you want your epitaph to be railed
Recent Shows and Nostalgia
01:32:24
Speaker
against Kathleen Kennedy until she and eventually retired and I got her. Got him. I did that. I did that. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Listen, positive. Let's let's let's let's talk a little bit about because you we've already won one and a half hours. so So let's talk a little bit about what we've been watching this week, because what I have been able to do um is I've been able to squeeze in because I've had the family with me, we've been able to watch some mutually
01:32:57
Speaker
enjoyable programs or films that we've been really, really enjoying together. And so there's quite a few during the the evenings that we've got through. So I finished Supercell again. I'm not going to go over it again, but but but we really, really enjoyed that as a fan. um And it's very it's very British, so It might be, I'm a little bit biased, but but it's really, really good. Did I tell you the week before that I'd finished Rebel Moon episode one or part one? Sorry. Did I tell you that we talked about it last week? Pause for a second. You, I'm going to say it. You do not have to discredit or discount shows or content that are British leading because that's still valid.
01:33:45
Speaker
and doesn't mean it's a different taste or like that, your lens is your lens. You don't have to, you don't have to, you don't have to do it. You've done it before too. And I'm like, no, you don't have to do that. Fuck that. Okay. like Well, that's best thank you. Thank you. Right. Going back to my question. did Did I talk about rebel moon part one last week? I did. Didn't I? Yeah. Yeah. Great. Fine. Okay. Right. Okay. I'm getting rid of that. Um, I haven't watched part two yet. I'm, I'm, I'm going to build up to that, but I'm going to do it. It's a public service. Um,
01:34:15
Speaker
still watching, I would say still watching, but on pause at the moment, on pause folks, Cobra Kai, the ones who lived, uh, scrubbed time bandits and rebel moon directors cut part two. Um, however, started watching. In fact, I've nearly finished it. We've nearly finished it. Um, how many balls can Andy juggle at the same time?
01:34:39
Speaker
This is the kids' fault, actually, because they came back and we're really, really big Ted Lase fans, really, really big Ted Lase fans. And my younger said to me, have you watched Welcome to Wrexham yet? And I'm like, I'm okay, thanks. I'm okay. I'm not a football fan. Sorry, I'm not a soccer fan. But what I liked about, obviously, Ted Lase was was the human story. So I mean, you know, from the discord with so many of our buddies are really, really into soccer or football, sorry, if you're in the UK. And um I'm not a massive fan. rugby was my game when I was a kid. So we kind of have a very different
01:35:21
Speaker
opinion. In fact, rugby and football players or fans kind of have a very, very a different opinion of each other. um Anyway, um but we ended up watching Welcome to Wrexham. She said, Trust me, it's it's It's a real life Ted Lasso. and I'm like, yeah, bullshit. I don't believe you. Anyway, we've we've gone we've we've hammered through seasons one and two. We're on season three. And I got to say, it's an absolutely beautiful, beautiful program. And I'm sure there's a lot of people that have already seen it. And they're shouting at me saying, catch up, Grandad, where have you been? um But yeah, no, I've been watching Welcome to Rexxum. And I have to say, it's been,
01:36:06
Speaker
It's been really, really enjoyable. The other thing that I've been watching is um you know this already because of something that we're planning with with one or two buddies of ours. But my favorite game adaptation to the to to two to media,
01:36:26
Speaker
so ah pet a computer game or a um a console game or a PC game, conversion to live live action or or or a TV series or indeed animation. My favourite to this day is Arkane and I have seen it three or four times now. Hate the game. Can't stand leading League of Legends. not might and complete Sorry, I don't say hate it. That's a strong word, but it's not my it's not my genre at all. It's not my bag at all. It's not the format. It's not the the structure that I like in a game, but good God, that TV series, that original series from the French company that I can't remember who they are. um
01:37:08
Speaker
Well, the good news, which I think I talked about a while ago, is that there's season two coming out very, very soon. I think it's coming in September, October timeframe. Anyway, the point being was that my entire family love it as well. A, because the girls love, love the whole premise of A, Cyberpunk 2 and B, two extremely kick-ass sisters um that are basically, you know,
01:37:38
Speaker
wreaking havoc across this universe. and ah And we decided to watch it again. We burnt through the entire series over the weekend as well as burning through two seasons of of Welcome to Rexxum as well. So we've been really, really busy, um but i'm i'm I'm very, very happy because Arkane in particular never gets old. I always go back to it. I love that program so much.
01:38:08
Speaker
Um, and then lastly, um, I read a couple of graphic novels again, we had some downtime. Uh, and so we had some quiet time between watching, watching telly and going for walks and going for nice dinners, um, out and about, um, I got to read a couple of graphic novels that I bought for my whole lay in November and I've burnt through them already. And I'm hoping to, um, nice well, I'll need to replace them, but, uh, it was nice. It was, it was, it was really nice. What about yourself, mate? What have you been watching, listening or reading?
01:38:39
Speaker
Haven't been reading anything, no time for that. um i've been listening to it I've been listening to a ah couple couple new albums um recently, so a couple couple of the bands that i that I liked when I was younger. like I noticed a trend in some some bands that have been around for a while. like I think they're they're kind of following that. like taylor I apologize if Taylor Swift wasn't the first person to do it, but I think she's the one who made me aware, conscious of it, or re-recording your masters.
01:39:06
Speaker
um And I've noticed some bands that I've like've i've liked for a really long time, they've been doing that as well, but like not trying to mimic the old recordings. They're doing it with like a modern like taking not the entire discography, but a lot of it in like rerecording like modern. And it's like,
01:39:24
Speaker
Dude, I am a I am a fan of live albums. I am. a I'm a huge fan of like re records. I'm a huge fan of covers like anything that just tweaks it a little bit. I just so I've been digging a lot of those albums. um Another album that came out that I don't usually usually don't talk about like the music that I listen to. It's just I don't know why. um But.
01:39:46
Speaker
Shout out to our Aussie friends. There is a ah an Aussie band that I've that I followed for quite a while called Stand Atlantic that just released a new album. um That's just an absolute wrecker. So they should be proud. They should be proud of their the music coming out of their country. I dig it. It's it's a good album. But yeah, I've been listening to that.
01:40:09
Speaker
um No reading. I but haven't watched a whole lot. um I didn't get any For All Mankind in. I did get the notification this morning that Rings of Power, three episodes of Rings of Power just dropped. So today.
01:40:26
Speaker
ah Yeah. Yes. Oh, shit. OK. They've they've been they've been acquired by the streaming services. So there is that. um That is that is that is happening. I did watch an episode of that that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. And oh, yeah.
01:40:47
Speaker
I am like, I'm pleasantly surprised. it it is It is what it is. Like it's it's TMNT. But they got I'm pretty I'm like, I didn't look it up, but I'm pretty sure it's the same voice actors from the movie. The most recent movie. Like it's all the same stuff. And it's like a continuation of that story. And it's cool how they've taken that like sketchy spider verse kind of animate 3D animation computer fashion that they do in the movies. But then they've kind of translated that down to a simplified TV 2D animation, like it's still kind of similar reminiscent. I'm like, i I think that's cool how they've done it. Like it's not a completely different thing. It's like, hey, it's a TV show. It's a budget. So I thought that was cool. And it's fun. Like it's fun for what it is. Like if you're a Turtles fan, if you've got kids who like Turtles, um yeah stuff like that. I don't know. I thought it was innate and like a good adaptation. That's that's all wax poetic on that.
01:41:43
Speaker
did you ever Did you ever read the original, to you know the the the grungy black and white? Yeah, yes, I did. I've read a lot of Turtles comics, even though I'm not a big comic person. I loved the 80s cartoon, but i did I did read those. I did read the last Ronin series.
01:42:06
Speaker
which I thought was really cool. And I'm trying to, I haven't queued up like the continuation of that. See, I never read. again never Go ahead. No, I was going to say, and I never read the The Last Ronin, but I do have really fond memories of the original black and white strip. And in fact, somewhere here, I've got the, um, the collected volumes. Um, but because I felt that I was too old for when, when
01:42:39
Speaker
TMNT came out back in the eighties. I was kind of already. I'm going to put this um a teenager. You weren't there. You weren't the right age. I wasn't the right age. And yeah. And um the buddy, my buddy that actually was was ended up being my. but You know, we.
01:43:01
Speaker
speak every week. He's the guy who's my best man. um He introduced me to the the original black and white iterations of that. And I thought, this is wild. this is These guys are kicking out and it's not it's less cowabunga and pizza and a lot more serious stuff going on. And I've always wondered if in all of the and all of the animations and the, and the films. I haven't seen the, I see the latest, I've seen the latest live action. I haven't seen the, the, I didn't see the spider verse. That's all I can put it as. You know what I mean? i I haven't seen the the graffiti art, the graffiti art version, uh, animation, sorry. Um, but I would love someone to replicate the original intensity of the,
01:43:58
Speaker
of the original comic. So the last Ronin series is real is really good. And I'm pretty sure, i unless it's changed, I thought somebody was adapting that towards... Oh, wow. I thought like Netflix or somebody... but I thought there was...
01:44:16
Speaker
i have I have to look it up. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles official movie. It's probably some stupid YouTube thing that lied to me. But I could have sworn there was an announcement. You know what I mean? and um'm and i'm ah And I'm not in any way poo-pooing the rest of it. Because again, it landed after my time and in in in air quotes. And I wasn't the target demographic. And then I read i read the the original.
01:44:45
Speaker
um It was adaptation. Sorry, sorry, I don't have any adaptations that was converted from, you know, rather than right to left, left to right. Yeah, but it was translated from into English. And it was awesome. It was absolutely awesome. And I'd love to see a take on that. I'd love to see a take on that. Turtles was important to me because it was my generation's Masters of the Universe. It was a capitalization on toy lines and just ridiculousness with ah with a show bolted onto the side of it. like this like Then there was obviously the original stuff and I think it would be difficult to make it more serious. I think The Last Ronin did a really good job about it and I hope they adapt that because it is hard to make turtles.
01:45:29
Speaker
serious where it's like, oh, no, it's it's a guy who's like a mutant pizza face guy. And he's throwing pizza boxes. um Yeah, I speak. Speaking of which, did I ever show you that I have this? It's a it's it's a take on the original. Oh, that's cool. Yes, that's exactly what I mean. But these are they're they're like shadowy blue and black figures. They're like they're action figures, but they're based on the originals.
01:45:57
Speaker
And so the night they're like the nighttime version, so they're they're blue and black, but they're all the same. Oh, sorry. i think i thought they were I thought they were for you then to paint. I didn't realize that that was the the final job. No, they they that that that's cool. I mean, I love that sort of shit. And i love i love I love that. For example, that statue you've done.
01:46:18
Speaker
the the yeah the statue you've done. A, it looks great. And I know you beat yourself up about it every time, but you're an idiot because it looks amazing. But also that's exactly what
Analysis of 'Sunny' Series
01:46:30
Speaker
I meant what i mean by, you know, not I'm not saying everything because I don't want to take away from yeah yeah the kids that the kids are discovering TMNT now. But yeah, a little bit of a you know a little bit of a And give it, you know, give it to give it to the guys over in Japan to to look after. Yeah. Do another zero. Just like Star Wars. And he can have everything we can have. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Different different types for different folks. And it's OK. Exactly. Exactly. It's not going to crush my childhood. But yes, there's that what there's that one thing this week we didn't talk about. My final thing that I watched, the only thing I really watched
01:47:13
Speaker
Go on. Sunny. Sunny. Was that what you were going to say? Yeah, I was going to say I want to spend some time with you on this this week, but I think we're going to. We're going to run out of time, but I. I think we could summarize and talk about it a little bit, because I think next week's the finale. Oh, is it? Oh, yeah. So this was episode nine that just aired a couple of days ago, which da if anybody is not watching Sunny,
01:47:43
Speaker
You need to be watching Sonny. The show is so good. It is exemplary. um It's absolutely fantastic. So why don't you talk what don't you talk about the last two weeks? So I've caught up.
01:48:04
Speaker
And I even watched yesterday's this morning. So I'm, I'm, I'm completely, I'm completely caught up. Um, I mean, it is Matt it is, it's gone as man as a box of frogs, but please, you know, take me through your thoughts and, and what what's happened, um, since we last caught up on it. So at first at a high level, in case people don't want to know all the details, similar to some of your thoughts that you had when the series first started.
01:48:32
Speaker
when you're like, oh, you thought it was gonna be too cutesy. Mid-season, I started to feel, I started to feel like, i've well I've really, I've always enjoyed the show, but I started to feel like, okay, it's it's kind of losing, it's maybe losing its footing. Like I feel like we're getting, the universe is expanding, like the story's expanding, but we're not getting any contraction in like a consolidation on plot and like what's happening, rationalization, rear ah why people do things, why certain things have happened. And the last two weeks have been a rapid contraction onto that and being like, we're we're we're rocking towards the climax. And i've like i've I've been shocked and surprised and happy with the way they've gone about doing that from a story narrative perspective. So if anybody's watching Sunny or if you start to watch Sunny and you get about five, six episodes in and be like, where is this going? I feel like I'm,
01:49:27
Speaker
Like what why, why keep keep going, just keep going. it gets you're you're getting the We're getting the payoffs and the the deeper the deeper emotional story that I that i always love. um And if that's all you wanna know, cool, sign off, don't go any further, skip a couple minutes ahead. um But what's happened the last couple of weeks is,
01:49:53
Speaker
So Sunny, Sunny, this the story from my perspective it is really, it's not so much about Rashida Jones at the moment, her character. It's more about, it's we've really kind of shifted the focus into Sunny and being like, what is it what does it mean to be Sunny? What is Sunny's purpose? How, is how how why, what is happening? um Because Sunny came back from like the Yakuza and has been different.
01:50:24
Speaker
different like her programming changed or whatever until, and we've been following um Susie, Susie's Rashida Jones character. We've been following Susie around and she's still trying to figure out what happened to her husband and son kind of going to this place um and seeing she saw her son with some of the Yakuza individuals in the last couple minutes of the the last week's episode and then all of a sudden Sunny was there, but Sunny was back to original, like, original Sunny. her And Suzy was grabbed by Yakuza and was being threatened. And next thing you know, Sunny turned into combat mode, warrior mode, mid-light, and protected her.
01:51:13
Speaker
and killed killed that guy, killed the guy who was protecting her. And then the end of the last week's episode, this is why I was struggling so much last week, to be like, I just, I can't ah can't fathom what happened. As the end of the episode, she killed him. And then immediately, like the ground starts crumbling. And like, Sunny falls through this hole in this abyss.
01:51:38
Speaker
and just kind of disappears. And like, that's the end of the episode. It's like it just turned into this completely fantastical, like void, a sinkhole void in the ground. And that's how it ended.
01:51:49
Speaker
but we got Yeah, but I think you called it. I think you called it. When we were when when i was when i wrote to you um I wrote to you, God, when i was when we were messaging each other, I said, what the hell's going on? and And I think you said, I want to check it now. I think you said to me, I think this is in her in Sunny's conscience and she's and she's shutting down. I could be completely wrong, but I'm sure you
01:52:18
Speaker
Sounds like I'd say. It's not real. like That wasn't real. like We're getting it from her perspective of like yeah the the the programming and sense of like robotic consciousness. I don't want to say AI. has That's a loaded term in certain ways. like It's her consciousness kind of combating itself against the programming, and we're we're seeing her kind of come turn inside.
01:52:39
Speaker
um There's still a lot to be answered from that, but like this this last this last episode was completely batshit crazy. um It was and inside Sunny's mind. A like a Japanese style game show of where she is the the the character the the game contestant and characters from the show are the crowd, the host, the the different things and it's It's a self-reflective game show of like Sunny fighting her consciousness and the actions that she's taken and trying to figure out what has happened. And like, should she wipe her memory or not wipe? Is she to blame? Is she a good robot? Is she not? And then like the throughout the process of just this this silly game show reveals
01:53:37
Speaker
core pieces of the plot of how we got to where we are, who Sunny is, what her name means, um but backstory to Masa, who's the husband, and the whole program. um It completely discredits whole storylines being like, you thought it was this. It's not it's This, this, this, this. I've got like so i've got one i got one question for you. the i I thought it was expert. I thought it was absolutely yeah expertly done. i mean spending to Spending in this episode has an introspection.
01:54:17
Speaker
Is that that the right word? Introspection in Sunny's in sunny's makeup. Bearing in mind she's a robot, and we spend the entire episode in her brain trying to work out what she's done, which is basically to defy one of Asimov's principles, three principles for for robots, which is she has yeah she has murdered someone, albeit while trying to protect her her friend. um The one bit I couldn't work out, i don't so it's one of those things that I rewound and watched again, rewound and watched again, rewound and watched again.
01:54:52
Speaker
the game show host in her brain, in in her in her in her dream while she's trying to work out what's been going on, um is that employee of the same company that Susie's husband works for? He's the drunk guy at the Christmas party. is the patient Yeah, exactly. He's the drunk guy at the Christmas party that was a bit of a sleazy git and and met made a few inappropriate comments, which he res butt you know that he subsequently had to had to apologize for. My question is, what was he doing down by that power socket? I mean, what was coming? I don't understand what happened. Did he steal or did he insert the dark the dark code?
01:55:39
Speaker
I think it's a bit of both. Okay. Where I'm, so it was unclear to me at first, too, because I thought he was just messing with the plug. I didn't realize at first that the outlets on the walls, I thought it was just charging, but that's actually how they sync their programming, too. Then it's like, oh, I get it. I think he's upset with the way Masa treats him because he keeps calling him stupid. And then he's working with the Yakuza to steal the code.
01:56:08
Speaker
Right. He's also affecting their program. He's causing all of the chaos that the robots are doing. Got it. Got it. He's in a way, I think he's almost reverting them. So like Masa keeps updating the code to be like, don't do that. But I think he keeps reverting them back to the like original broken version that lets them do. Other stuff like bad stuff.
01:56:31
Speaker
but I got it as well. I'm with you. I'm with you. Sorry, waste my share has gone very creaky all of a sudden. um may I'm very purposely not talking. I'm not talking about the ending yet. I have how that episode ended because I. OK, fuck it, let's just talk about it. So the whole the whole episode is based on should Sunny wipe her brain and revert back to factory settings because she's a bad robot or not wipe her memory because It's not it's she was doing the right thing with the actions that she's taken and her like because wiping her memory would would ah would remove remove her memories of Susie and all the things that she cares about Susie her feelings masa program them to have feelings and to understand and to take actions based on their
01:57:21
Speaker
their emotions and feeling, making them more human. yeah And she was, she had those feelings and committed certain actions which violate like, but they're they're counterintuitive. And so right before the ending, she does like a slideshow projector reel of time with Susie that makes you feel like she's like, no, this is important. I shouldn't wipe my memory.
01:57:48
Speaker
but the end of the episode is her going through the, it's like presented as like two doorways and two hallways. She goes through the wipe doorway and it and then like that hallway is is where the experiments were done. It's like a flashing kind of like memory of like going through that hallway. It never, been I think it ends with her just going through those doors. And it's like that, does she get to the doors? I thought she was opening, she goes into the hallway and she's going down that hallway And then that's it. And then fade of black. But I thought but i thought she was oh maybe maybe I'm wrong, but I thought she was oh maybe into the hallway, too. And it was like, oh, wait, why? Why would she even entertain going in those doors if she felt like she did? Because it kind of ends with like you did the right thing. um But who knows? I don't know. I don't know what. happened I don't know, man. Don't know, man. It's good. I think we're going to I can't believe that we're going to lose that she's going to lose her um
01:58:48
Speaker
her entire personality. I can't believe that at all. you know I think that think that there's a twist to that twist, if that makes sense. What we thought was going to happen didn't happen. And then what we think now is going to happen, I don't think it's going to happen either. So yeah, that that i mean that's that's that's what I'm thinking.
01:59:12
Speaker
um I think there's another twist to that. I think there's another twist to that ah for um story completely. Um, yeah, no, oh i may i'm not I'm loving it. I'm loving it. And it's such a refreshing surprise. You know, it really is such a surprise. And the great thing about it, if next week is the last week, then we've got so much more stuff coming out. We've got terminator a zero, new how animated the the new anime.
01:59:40
Speaker
Um, Terminator series coming out. Um, I can then finish off Cobra Kai. I can finish off some of the walking dead spinoffs. If I've got, if I'm brave enough, um, maybe isn't, there's a lot to, not to be excited about. There really is. A lot of outlaws, a lot of outlaws coming. in And there's outlaws as well. I don't want to be too busy right on the televisual side of things. Cause there's a lot of outlaws, especially this weekend. I want to try out.
02:00:11
Speaker
Mate, it's a little bit else about face this week this week. This week's running order has been a little bit the wrong way around because we did start with kind of outlaws and then spent a lot awful lot of time on the on the on the Star Wars stuff. But um no, I'm i'm really stoked, buddy. We have broken the two hour seal,
02:00:34
Speaker
which is... We opened the can. Always amazes me, but I may, I'm i'm dropping buddy. I'm going to have to go. Um, but thank you so much. I have like, like you, it's felt i ages since we spoke and it literally has only been one week, one day, but I don't know what's, you know, it's, it's, uh, it feels like an, a really tough slog or an eternity this week. So, um, no, I'm really, I'm really stoked. I got to, I got to talk.
02:01:03
Speaker
geeky stuff with you. I'm really happy about that. Thank you very much for your time, buddy. Yeah, thank you as well. I actually I have another prepared outro here if you're if you're keen to hear it. Well, okay. Just to one second. And thank you to you guys as well. All of you guys that listen. um Appreciate your time. Appreciate your friendship. Look after each other. um Stay healthy. Stay happy. Go on, Sean.
02:01:31
Speaker
I thought you liked last week's and here you are. um No, I did. we are it's um It's amazing. Go. All right. We really appreciate you spending your time with us. If you liked what you heard, make sure to subscribe and leave us a review. Don't forget to check out our website at just showing calm for more awesome content and ways to connect with us. Before we go, I'll leave you with this quote.
02:01:53
Speaker
Worrying is a cheap replacement for caring Complaining is a cheap replacement for fixing Outrage is a cheap replacement for supporting. It's easier to tear down. It's much harder to build up with that Keep it positive check for toilet paper before sitting down until next week That's all I got man that was so cool well Honestly, I mean I'm honestly I'm I'm Do you saw my mouth right? I was, I'm in awe. That's, that's me. Honestly, you're in the wrong, street you should be in politics. It's not my quote. I didn't come up with that quote, but. Okay. You have now. See you guys. Bye.