My Day of Media: May 22, 2013

Sorry for the lack of updates lately! For anyone who is upset, they can blame this thing...

His name is Happy and he, along with schoolwork that is now thankfully over, have consumed my life. But, alas, I'm back and have even more time to consume things. Let's get started!

1. The Key of Awesome: Start a Mumford Band!


I
f anyone doesn't know, this week is/was Comedy Week on YouTube, where they feature all of the awesome comedy channels and vloggers around. This is a song all about Mumford & Sons and is a spot-on parody.

2. Stop Podcasting Yourself: Ep. 270- Brett Martin




This week's episode of SPY features first-time guest Brett Martin, a Canadian comedian who recently pissed of a Real Housewife of Ontario. It's a hilarious episode, but that seems to be the extent of his contribution. Worth a listen, as always.

3. Game Grumps: The Typing of the Dead


Yep. It's a zombie game where you shoot by typing words. Enjoy, folks.

4. Kitchen Nightmares: Amy's Baking Company

I've watched my fair share of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, a reality show where famed chef Ramsay goes into restaurants and fixes them. While I much more like the British version (as with most things in life, it's much calmer and genuine over in England) this episode that aired last week garnered a ton of attention.



Usually, restaurant owners are defensive about Ramsay's criticism. Part of this is understandable. He's rude and obscene, often, and after all, this is their livelihood most of the time. However, this couple takes the, no pun intended, cake. Watch if you have a second. It's an amazing episode. After its over, hunt around and check out some of the aftermath of this episode.

No Currency Episode 5 is LIVE

The latest episode of my podcast "No Currency" is live. In it, Alex and I talk about tons of stuff. Most importantly, why kids need vocab and why Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson owe me some props.

You can find the episode here. Also, check out an archive of episodes here.

My Day of Media: May 1, 2013

It's May Day, folks. And in the words of Justin Timberlake circa 2001...



Thanks, Justin. Guys, throw Justin a bone and check out his latest album, which I haven't really enjoyed yet.

Anyway, the grass is cut, my anxiety about life is down a bit I'm looking forward to a day of stuff and things!

1) The Nerdist: Lily Tomlin

If you're not familiar, Chris Hardwick, comedian and former host of "Singled Out" back in the day, calls himself the Nerdist and has revolutionized the world with websites, TV shows, Web shows, and podcasts. He had Lily Tomlin on who was just fascinating. Definitely worth a listen.

2) Who Charted?: Eddie Pepitone

WeWe, Eddie, and KuKu

I love "Who Charted?" Let me state that right out of the gate. It's a fantastic podcast with Kulap Vilaysack (KuKu) and Howard Kramer (WeWe) where they count down the top five songs and movies currently with a guest. But, Eddie Pepitone's disgruntlement wore me down in this episode. We get it, Eddie: All movies and songs suck. I'm not saying that every guest should love it, but it got exasperating to me. Plus, the Chart Goose segment was awkward, since Eddie knew NOTHING about his hometown. An okay episode, but go back to the Paul F. Tompkins or DC Pierson episodes if you've never heard the show before.

3) Songza "Summer Fling" playlist

For those of you who don't know, Songza is a streaming music site that, honestly, puts Pandora to shame. The shining feature is a concierge service. It uses the time of day to suggest activities that you might be doing and then suggests playlists to accompany you. For example, it was Wednesday late morning, I wanted to keep summer going, so it gave me the "Summer Fling" playlist, which was awesome. Check out the playlist and the site here.

4) SModcast: Fatalie

Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier talk about George Jones dying and the fact that Kevin knows more about TV teenager problems than algebra. Fun is had by all.

Top 3 Favorite Things About Iron Man

Unless you've been living under a rock, you're aware that Iron Man 3 comes out THIS WEEKEND! Since I was a young child and started watching an odd cartoon about a man dressed in a metal suit, I've loved the character of Iron Man.

So, in honor of the movie, which I'll be seeing TOMORROW NIGHT, I'm counting down my top three (Get it? Because this is the third movie? Get it?) things that make me love Iron Man.

3) The suit(s). Iron Man's suit is fantastic and can suit (WOCKA WOCKA) any need he needs. Not only is it completely badass, but it has evolved over the years from mainly just protecting him to making him a weapon for good.

Look at how it's changed! Underwater versions. Space versions. EEEEEVILLLL versions. The suit is another character in itself and it's so much fun to watch the suit evolve and reflect the current trends in comics as well as the personality of its creator and main occupant, Tony Stark.

2) Pathos. If you haven't seen Iron Man, let me give you the brief version. Tony Stark, billionaire inventor, made his fortune on making weapons and selling them to the highest bidder. He goes overseas to show off his latest wares and his convoy is attacked...by his own weapons. He's taken captive in a cave and, with a box of scraps, forms the prototype Iron Man suit as a way to escape.

From that moment, he decides that maybe he should use his genius for good instead of evil. Pretty cool, right?

1) Realism. Here's where I think I fell in love with the character. Tony Stark, very early on, makes it clear that he's Iron Man. No brooding. No hiding. He keeps the technology close to himself, but rarely cares who knows what about his identity. It frees up a lot in storytelling.

Then, there's the alcoholism. It's something that will never be in the films, for good reason. (Drunkards don't sell action figures. And that's okay.) But, Stark has gone through the wringer in the comics, ups and downs that someone with that many demons and that much responsibility and access must go through.

There's the list! Any questions? Something that should be added? Hit me up in the comments.

My Day of Media: April 30, 2013

It's almost May! That's craziness. An announcement for the new segment should be eminent, but until then, what was I consuming today?

PS Should this segment be called I've Got the Consumption?

1) Stop Podcasting Yourself: Episode 267- Josh Stubbs

SPY might be might current favorite podcast. Part of the Maximum Fun family, hosts Graham Clark and Dave Shumka talk about everything and nothing at the same time. It's, honestly, pretty hard to describe the show. It's just people talking. But, it's definitely worth whatever time you have for fun things in your life. Plus, if you're lucky, you get to hear about Flex magazine, Hulk Hogan, Fanta, or a myriad of other things. Here's the episode if you'd like to listen!

2) Game Grumps

I'm planning on talking about this tonight on my very own podcast, No Currency, but blog readers will get a heads up. Game Grumps is a web series featuring Jon and Arin playing video games. That's it. Could be pretty boring if these two weren't hysterical. Currently in circulation are the classic Mega Man X and the notably horrible Sonic '06. You can find them here! Here's the latest episode featuring a game called "Pocky & Rocky". As you can see if you watch, it's rarely about the games at this point and more about, shockingly, two guys talking.



Since we're on the subject, check out the podcast No Currency. Alex Jonathan Brown and I talk about the things that we love that you can't stand and why you should change your mind. We also just did an entire episode about wrestling. So...yeah.

3) Jordan, Jesse GO!: Episode 273: Wad Lord with Phil Elvrum

This is, other than Bullseye with Jesse Thorn, the flagship podcast of the Maximum Fun network. This week's episode was with indie rocker Phil Elvrum who, not surprisingly, was hilarious against the amazing Jordan Morris and Jesse Thorn, the empresario behind all that is Maximum Fun.

Here's a handy embeddable link to the episode so you can consume it RIGHT NOW!

All of this was consumed while our lawn decided to try to kill me all while exposing all of my fears and insecurities about life. Needless to say, as I type this, a lawn care crew is going through, getting our grass down to a manageable length. At that point, I will be able to resume my feeble attempt at the manly duty of mowing the lawn.

4) Sklarbro Country: Paul Dooley

This was my at night listening, which is usually taken up by a rerun of JJGO! or SPY. The Sklars were awesome, but Paul Dooley really likes to hear himself tell stories about himself and brag on what he has done. I'm not saying he hasn't done a lot and that this isn't a fantastic episode of the Sports-Comedy podcast, but if you wanted to skip it, you probably could.

My Day of Media: April 29, 2013

I listen to and watch all sorts of things as I work and live. I wanted to keep track of them and talk about them every day. Hence, My Day of Media. Each day on MDM, I'll keep track of the songs, podcasts, TV, and Web Videos I've ingested. I'm more than happy to get recommendations from people in the Comments.

1) Finished "Pop My Culture" with Carla Gallo

PMC is a fantastic podcast hosted by comedians Cole Stratton and Vanessa Ragland. They talk about, shockingly, pop culture. But, for me, this show has risen above the pile of turds that is most other podcasts. This week, they had Carla Gallo, who plays Daisy on "Bones" for those who may or may not be interested. She's adorable and hilarious. Great episode to pick up sticks to.

Vanessa, Carla, and Cole staring off into space.

You can find more about the podcast here or just search for it on iTunes.

2) "Comedy Bang Bang! with Paul F. Tompkins and Bobby Moynihan

CBB used to be Comedy Death Ray, for those who may have had a lapse in listening like I did. For the uninitiated, it's a podcast with Scott Aukerman and random guests and characters. On this episode, PFT did his fantastic Andrew Lloyd Weber impression and Bobby Moynihan came back as an odd homeless boy character. Hilarious! PFT usually makes an episode for me, so anything past that is just a bonus.

You can listen to the episode here! Definitely worth it.

3) The TED Radio Hour: What is Beauty?

TED stands for Technology-Entertainment-Design. It's a series of conferences and symposia, I guess, that occur all around the globe, talking about, essentially, whatever people want. The TED Radio Hour is an NPR program and podcast that dives a bit deeper into these topics. This week's episode? Beauty. What place does it hold in our lives? Do we need it? Does it hold value for us?

It was a fascinating hour of radio that, even if you are familiar with TEDTalks, is a great thing to add to your weekly listening repertoire. You can find more information about it here. One of the interesting speakers was Cameron Russell, a model with a very interesting take on her industry. Here's her TEDTalk.

4) The Nerdist: Live from Gilda's Laugh Fest

I have an odd relationship with The Nerdist Podcast. I'm not going out on a limb by saying it's one of the best around, but they release so many episodes that they get backlogged. Then, I feel like I have to just summarily get rid of things every once in a while. I'm trying to not do that and enjoy them sporadically. This episode was from a couple of months ago and was recorded in a church at Gilda's Laugh Fest, a comedy festival/cancer benefit. The real star of this episode is not only an excellent Quemments (Questions and Comments) section, but Matt Mira, who rules pretty much anytime he's on air.

That was pretty much it for the day. The rest of it consisted of buying a patio set and cordless trimmer, then coming home to crash. 

Hope you all enjoyed this. Laterz!

REBOOT! Start of a new, nameless segment

So, it seems that everyone once in a while, I realize I've neglected all of this. What I used to make part of my daily or semi-daily life, I've just forgotten. Well, I want to remedy that!

So, as of today, I'm hoping to post more. I want to write again, and have a few ideas of ways to do that.

1) Day of Media: Everyday, I'm going to post what I listen to, what I watch, etc. I want to keep track of these things and share them with others.

2) Unnamed Project: I'm working on something that will really be awesome, once I figure out a name for it. I don't want to mention anything else until that point, though. But, stay tuned.