Prepare yourself for Neuromancer: The Movie, a Japanese robot bar, Orwell on trampires, braised rat, humanzees, and Identification.
Read the full text, as well as the show notes, at http://flashpulp.com
The Skinner Co. Network
FC68 - Dog Days
(upbeat music) - Hello, and welcome to Flashcast 68, a Skinner Co presentation. - Skinner Co. Madness, this is Skinner Co. - This episode is also brought to you by generous donations from Nick Tyler, Juju Click, and Dave Wendt. Prepare yourself for Neuromancer, The Movie, a Japanese robot bar, or well on Trampiers, braised rat, human z's, and identity. (upbeat music) - Hi, I'm Opopenx, and my companions in a world where nothing will ever be the same. Our desk are made. - Hello, I'm J.R.D. - Hello, we're recording on a nice August afternoon. - Not humid at all. - Very nice, very lovely. - It's Kate has made Joining any moment now. - It's a kiddo, it's a kiddo, it's a kiddo. - It's a kiddo. - It's a kiddo. - A pope just had her birthday. - Whee, yes, it was a lovely birthday. - It was a lovely birthday. (laughs) - Now when we get to these, you know, mid-summer days, these dog days of summer, if you will, news can get a little slow. - Indeed. - Sometimes we have cliches that we reach for, you know, the Man Bytes dog story. - Mm-hmm. - And I actually have a little something here for you. - Is it for realsies a Man Bytes dog story? - Brandon Shaw. - Oh dear. - Brandon Shaw of Duluth is under arrest for assault of a police dog. - Whoa. - Is that, okay, wait, is that like assaulting an officer? - So they do take it pretty seriously, yes. I mean, there's a lot of money and time and training and-- - Yeah, I guess, yeah. - And love investing in this dog, so. - Well, and they're generally aware that it is a police dog, so-- - Oh, yeah, okay, yeah, okay. - According to citypages.com, in the early morning hours of July 25th, Shaw, 21, was being pursued by police and superior on suspicion of car theft when his ride ran out of gas in an alley. A police officer warned him to get out on the ground unless he'd be bit by his canine, Black, which is an awesome name for a canine. But Shaw wouldn't be apprehended without a fight. He ran from the vehicle, jumped a four-foot high fence, and the dog was released. Police say Shaw punched the left ear of the canine, then grabbed both ears, raised the dog's head, now this is a German shepherd, raised the dog's head and appeared to bite the dog on the head. He also struck the dog and the muzzle before running away. - Wow, wow, I betcha that surprised the dog a lot. - Mm-hmm, well, and generally like whatever you do, the dog will keep going, so that's a skill. Maybe he's honed it. - To a point where he managed to escape the alley and Wisconsin and was only later arrested into luth. - Wow. Yeah, well, I don't know, steer terror of an animal attack? I mean, I guess he knew he was there like stop, or my dog's gonna eat you. So, he knew that-- - Or I'll eat your dog. - Exactly. So, that's worse on him, he should've just stopped, 'cause they'll always just catch you in to luth. He should've just, he should've just not stolen a car. That's probably-- - Well, fair enough. - Probably would've been a better choice. - No, actually, a little extra gas in the tank. - Yeah, yes. Always remember to fill up your stolen vehicle. - Your stolen vehicle. - Went on your way to to luth. - Yeah. - And on that note-- (upbeat music) ♪ I'll put my breath ♪ - All right, so it appears that the canines aren't the only government arm having a bit of difficulty these days. - Oh no. - Dog arms. - Recent memo, too. (laughing) - I have dog arms right now, guys. I wish you could see this. - Uh, those actually look like T-Rex dogs that you've somehow transplanted onto a dog. - I'm swimming right now, this is what happens when they swim. - I don't think dogs can put their arms out that way. - Shh. Okay, I'm not a real dog, I'm just playing one on the show. - A recent memo released from the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency telling operators that they need to lay off the porn. Apparently, moving your military operations behind a computer screen has some results in that people get bored when they're not launching missiles, I guess. - There's a lot of-- - There's a lot of-- - Yeah, there's only so much you can maintain, you know? - When you're looking at missiles all day. - I guess if you're flying a drone for, you know, a few thousand kilometers and you're really good at it. - You're never alone on shift. That might get a little awkward with Buddy Next Door. I've seen these people and what kind of-- - Yeah, they're set up. Now, what I found especially funny is that the news article I found from canoe.ca, part of the reason that they released this memo is because it's not just that it's, you know, a misuse of work time. It's also-- - All those guys get tense, you know. Got to relieve some pressure. - It's also that these sites tend to be riddled with malware and viruses and that people are infecting government computers-- - They don't even know where to get their porn. - That's so sad. - That is sad. - Speaking of boobs on the internet, I actually saw some pretty great and interesting boobs when I was on the internet. There was three boobs and it-- - Yeah, let's get a remake of Total Recall. - It seems like they're trying to hate a lot of the notes from the original without actually going to Mars. It's very interesting. - Wait, what? Is there no Mars? - Everything that I've read, it seems to indicate that the entire story takes place on Earth. - Ooh. - But they've still pulled all of the Martian mutants, it seems like. And the, I heard there's a two week scene. I haven't seen any of the trailers. I'm trying to stay away from the media. I wanna actually see this and take it in. I'm already a little colored because of the original, but I wanna take it in as unbiased as possible. - Mm-hmm. Anyways, yeah. Boob's scene is still in. Because of it, they got a PG-13 rating, but they couldn't resist putting that in. - That's interesting, they bumped the level just for you. Oh man. - For a third boob. - Certainly they've gotta be dropping some F-bombs and-- - No, that doesn't matter. There's a weird hierarchy of what-- - The violence alone should anyway. - A topic for another day. I was just attempting to bring up three boobied ladies. - Yeah, I see. As always. - Boob ladies. - Speaking of irregular boobs, actually, did you guys see that article? Strasburg posted in the new mob. We'll discuss the new mob in a minute, but did you see the article? Strasburg has made himself a nice little dark corner in the mob. - I was gonna say what? A nice little third boob? - And his first posted item was about a Japanese robot bar. - Okay. - Which, interesting enough in itself, is currently driving these floats around, but also has exhibits, if you will, set up in the bar itself, where giant robot ladies are operated by, well, from these pictures at least, generally scantily clad, real human ladies. - Okay. - So, you basically go-- - Giant robot ladies? - Yeah, giant robot ladies, like robot ladies, maybe five times the size of a normal human easily. - Wow. Are they both hiding? People have to see these pictures. - Yeah, I'll include the link in the notes, obviously, but picture a woman sitting in the lap of something the size of a large Buddhist statue, your image of a large Buddhist statue, but instead of a large Buddhist statue, it's a scantily clad, busty robot. - And the robot has no waist down, so-- - Yeah, 'cause that's where the lady sits. - Presumably, she can open and close her mouth and lift her arms. And then, so-- - And do you have a little? - Men look at women who are operating the robot. - Yeah, but the weird thing is like, the position that the woman is in to operate the robot isn't really sexy at all. - Well, she's just kind of awesome. - She's facing the gents. I don't even think she can see, 'cause she's turned away from the robots. - Yeah, that's interesting. - It's like she's sitting on Abraham Lincoln's lap. - Yeah, there you go. - Yeah, that's a good sexy area. - But Abraham is dressed real sexy and he can open his mouth and lift his arms. - He's got the beard trimmed. - Yay, Japanese. Woo! That's still pretty cool, though. I like the idea of like a rope. Well, I like the idea of a robot bar, maybe just not with giant robot ladies. - And so there's several ladies, clad in different colors, right? - Yep. - Yeah, they all have different color bikinis, essentially. - Well, it's interesting. - This is obviously just playing heavily to the geek crowd in Japan, but-- - Mm-hmm, but still. - There's like a part of this I'm just not getting and that's okay. - Yeah, yeah. - You need to be 14-year-old nurse to really-- - But then keep 'em good drinking. - Well, the problem is part of Japan. - Charity said my emoticon was gorgeous. And I'm like, "I wanna use this new emoticon." He's like, "Oh my God, that's so 14-years-old." I'm like, "It's not 1980'd anymore." - The three-character anime emoticons. - I love them. - With sharp eyes. - I think it's great and I'm gonna use it now. - They're so adorable. - And you guys can tell me that I totally sound mature, but just really super nice and happy, which is all I intend to reflect. Oh, glad I got that off my chest. Speaking of things that will excite the cockles of 14-year-old boys, well, actually, probably not anymore, would've excited me at 14. Liam Neeson and Mark Wahlberg may be making a neuromancer movie. - Oh, wow. Don't look at me. I don't know what you're talking about. - Who's gonna be who? - I don't even know. Apparently, Neeson is on hand to play Armitage and Wahlberg would play case. So little, I could definitely see Neeson as Armitage. He definitely fits that role, but I don't know about Wahlberg in case. I mean, he can maybe do the tired burnout look. We'll see, we'll see. I just thought it was interesting. I suspect most of the mob is going, "What is he talking about?" But some of you right now are very excited. - And for those of you. - Mm-hmm. Another weird kind of pulpy movie news. So many may be releasing the equalizer remake, which I know you guys probably have no idea who the equalizer is. - Nope. - One of those guilty pleasures on A&E while it was running for a while. Kind of a terrible show in my, I mean, I hope I'm not offending anybody. Kind of a terrible show in its way, but still really fun to watch. Basically, it's just a vigilante who wanders around killing people to, you know, basically there's somebody who's so horrible every episode that, as I recall, anyway, he ends up killing it. - He can't help himself. - It's the Punisher. - Yeah. - Basically. - But it's classy. It's like the British Punisher. - Oh, all right. - As I recall, now I have to admit, it's been probably over a decade since I've seen this show. - Maybe there's a super huge fan of it and who can let us know. - Definitely over a decade since I've seen this show. - Anyway. - But it's coming out again or-- - They're making a film, a possible film remake. - So, not like a new show or whatever. - No. - Oh. We could always do with a couple more guilty pleasures. - Speaking of guilt. - Something I wanted to discuss just briefly, and this is a little bit off the beaten path I understand, but Kristen Stewart and our pets. - I've been paying attention somewhat. - Yeah, I know you're speaking of guilty pleasures. I know you're a fan. I don't really have that much vested interest in the whole situation. I don't really care about either of them or their threatened film franchise. But something really bothered me the other day. I noticed an article on gothmus.com in which the headline was a trampire is born, Kristen Stewart's cheating level, blah, blah, blah, blah. The term trampire. We've been having a bit of a discussion lately about gendered insults and the need for really a new generation of insults. - They are not sexually related. - Well, not based on like what naughty bits you have. - Yeah, yeah, not gender specific. Now, okay, before we get back to trampire, let me ask you another question. We've discussed slut a couple of times, the term slut. Do you guys have a gender specific connotation with slut? Do you always think sort of female with that? Or, 'cause I am just as comfortable calling him a male. I believe I've probably called, or well, I wouldn't say I've called men sluts because I wouldn't call a male a slut, but I have considered men sluts before, but I definitely have a female connotation to that word. Like, it feels much more, oh God, it feels much more comfortable to call a lady a slut than a man. - Yeah, it's sort of horrible, but yeah, that's the connotation, yeah. I'm not a big fan of the word tramp, even though it's sort of a lower form of that. I'm comfortable calling a hobo a tramp, Frank. - Yeah. - But I'm not comfortable calling a lady a tramp, even if it's a classier version of slut. - Yeah, I guess, I think of it as a classier version of slut, yes. - But the other day, we, actually a Pope and X, use the term, and I got some feedback over this, use the term douche canoe, which we find rather funny around the Skinner Co offices, but also has some pretty specific gender connotations. - It does. - Now, allow me to propose a suggestion that many of these words, - But there's specifically something to like a debatable thing about douche. - Yeah, okay, here's my defense of douche. - Personally, I think the whole idea of a douche is absolutely effing ridiculous in the first place. - And it is. - It's considered like a not healthy thing for you. - Yeah. - I mean, it is, I'm not gonna say that people shouldn't do it, 'cause what they wanna do to themselves is fine, but it is basically not a good thing to do to yourself. So I have no problem calling somebody a douche, because to me, that is a ridiculous, ridiculous term. So. - I see. Now, my proposal-- - And then you add canoe, and then it really doesn't make any sense, and that's what makes it funny. - My problem is that I still think that there is-- - But yeah, there is the gender connotation that makes it dangerous. - That makes it connotation, because it involves something sexual, you know? - And you know what? That's not even true, because boys do. They do it up their poop shoes. - No, no, but here, blah. I think that these words are used because they have a very satisfying, resulting sound. I think that a lot of our, the reasons we hang on to douche, shit, and fuck, as curse words, is because they have a lot of punch. It has nothing to do with what they're associated with. They're very guttural. Slut, I hate the concept, the term, whatever, but at the same time, it has something in the delivery that, you know. Transpire, obviously, that's pushing it a little, but people try to be too clever in the media. - Honestly, oh, sorry. - So, my proposal to you is that we try to integrate Enema Bag. Enema Bag is so satisfying. Say it out loud right now. - Enema Bag. - Enema Bag. - Enema Bag. - Enema Bag. (laughs) - Enema Bag. - That guy is such an enema bag. - Enema Bag. - I don't know. - I don't know. - It's a little hard. - It's a little hard. - It is a little bit bag. The Enema Bag. - The Enema Bag. - Enema Bag. - Enema Bag. - Enema Bag. I don't know. - I think I'm getting used to. I like the douche canoe. But see, here's the thing. Enema Bag is just as satisfying as douche canoe, but it has just the same, like, sexual connotation. - But Enema Bag can swing either way. There's no-- - I suppose that's true. - It's not entirely devoid of, you know. But I mean, every human-- - Ladies can have enemas too. I suppose that's true. Whereas dudes-- - Ladies do have bums, yes. - Whereas dudes can't have douches. - Every human curse word relates either to bodily functions or religion. That's it. - I like the French swearing about churches. I like that. - Dab out of neck. - That's great. Doesn't that sound satisfying? - Absolutely. - But you wouldn't be like, "Church!" (both laughing) - Yeah, 'cause I would just, I mean, I think it's funny. (both laughing) - I find it interesting because, and this is going weirdly highbrow all of a sudden. George Orwell, have you ever read his essay on writing in English? - No. - He's really insistent on one of the most essential things to, and this really strikes me, this is one of the things that I've always taken deeply to heart. He says we need to move away from cliches. We need to be really conscious of our cliches when we're using them. And in any way, try to strike them down. Like, the best writing is the writing that is entirely free of phrasing that you don't think. - Then it's unexpected, right? - But it's also a shortcut that you've picked up from somebody else, and in that laziness, you're passing that laziness on to others. Like, that person isn't fully considering your writing when they're just-- - Yeah, oh, I'll just use this trip. - Yeah. So I think that while it seems like we're just discussing dirty words at the moment, it's essential to the growth of the language, and frankly, maybe our brains to be able to accept broader concepts, including, you know, oh, I poop, and I can use poop as a term in public places. - And that people would be so shocked and appalled at something so ridiculous, you know? - Yeah, like, oh my gosh, do you not poop too? - But on the flip side of that, by moving away from gendered phrasings and gendered insults, you're also in a weird way shaping the way a public considers something. Like, if you can take those words out of power. - Exactly. So it is your job, everyone, today to use once a douche canoe. - No, and I'm a bag. - An anime bag. But see, my problem with that is it's still, like-- - Okay. - Rectally related. You're still talking about-- - You're not gonna be able to entirely get away from the source of what people find-- - We gotta ease them into it, okay? - You know it's a good one. - That's a jerk. - You can't say-- - It's just not-- - No, it's too-- - It's not satisfying enough, but it's not really related to anything, like-- - 14, okay, so you know what, actually, maybe you're right, maybe we haven't found the perfect, satisfying word at the moment. Here's my-- - Can you-- - Here's my suggestion. - Okay. - Let's all gather at theflashmob.ning.com and have a little discussion about this. I'll start a thread after the show. - I don't like it. - You can discuss what words we should be using to insult each other. - Okay. - Speaking of clever insults, we went to the pirate festival. - We did. - Yes, uh-uh. - And 'cause we showed up kind of near the end, we had to wait on naps and honestly, it was really hot, so we wanted to wait a little later, and then there was little crowds. They let us in for free 'cause we were so close to the end, so we had an hour of just babies running about and buying swords and being ridiculous. It was a powerful-- - It was so wonderful. - They were teaching sword fighting. - There was something to be said for showing up so late because everyone was looking for something to do, so they were much more willing to entertain you from location to location. - Yeah, some people were already done, so there was a lot of pirate things to it around. - Yeah, there were so many people dressed up too. - And everything was so inexpensive. It was so welcoming. I really enjoyed myself. - I was surprised it was inexpensive because in many ways, this is the same crowd that shows up at Ren Fairs, and-- - That's not cheap. - Usually, Ren Fairs aren't cheap, yeah, that's from my experience. - Or like the steampunk festivals and stuff. There was a lot of steampunk pirates walking around today, which was great. - The Toronto Steampunk Society, which if you're not following on Facebook and you live in Toronto, that's a lot on your part, had a, they do regular field trips and the pirate festival was one of the field trips they did. So I suspect we actually caught part of the tail end of the steampunk field. - Oh, that's cool. - Anyway, that was a lot of fun. - Yeah, lots of vendors and they were so nice. - Yeah, the kids got to do a little bit of leatherworking and I got some awesome jewelry, which is fantastic. - And it was my birthday. - Happy birthday, Bob. - Happy birthday. (laughing) - I heard. - Other big events, we got another Radio Project X coming up. - We do, we do, they like us. - Very exciting. - So exciting, the 14th of August. - Yeah. - You can come join us on the second floor of 154 Danforth, if you want, come up with a black swan. - It is such a black swan. - It is such a black swan. - And so homey. - Yeah, people are great. - I had so much fun, and I get bored easy. (laughing) It's true. - I do. - It was nice to be on early in the show, 'cause then we got to sit and watch the rest. - Yes. - We could just enjoy ourselves. Have a little drink. - Mm-hmm, yeah, the Radio Project X folks do a great job. - Mm-hmm, this is so much fun. - We'll be presenting a classic script again, but I'm making some changes to this one. - Actually, my favorite script. - So just before we get into our bothersome business, I wanted to briefly mention where donations go. There's always a generous donation spot at the top of the show. Anybody who wants to throw a few bucks at our PayPal? - My new coke habit. - Gets a, ooh, anybody who throws a few bucks at us via the PayPal account gets a notice at the top of the show. So. - Our love and admiration for the rest of your and/or our lives. - And/or. - Sometimes we'll throw 10 bucks at Scott Johnson or any other podcast that has a little promo feed. We like to spread some of that love around. Sometimes some of that money, I must admit, goes into my co-bo habit. - Gives him some to talk about. - Consider it research for future episodes. - But it is though. - It really is. I mean, my reading habits don't always look like it is, but. - And if you want, you know, income tax form, we will release it as soon as Mitt Romney does. The Skinner Co. will release 10 years of back taxes. - Yep. - And it also goes to cover the new form. Ning is not free. - It is not. - But it is quite swank, frankly. - It is. - It is worth it. It is so nice. - So yeah, we have certainly the donations to cover the costs and we're pleased to do so. - Love it our new days. - Please come and join us. - Yeah, that's the flashhop.ning.com. - There's always people on in the chat. So much fun. Our best minds. - You know, I haven't been on, like, very much at all this weekend 'cause I've been so busy, like. - Yeah, long weekends. - Enjoying myself, but. - Long birthday weekend. - Yeah, I'm really, really enjoying the new place. But you know what? I'm feeling actually a little too happy now. So, we've got to bring it down a notch. - I think we should throw do some. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - SpongeBob. - Have you ever taken a cruise? Perhaps you've spent a week on a princess this or that, floating aimlessly around the Caribbean with no real purpose other than visiting ports of call, soaking up the rays and consuming copious amounts of rich and delicious foods. I hear it's quite a lot of fun, except for the occasional viral outbreak and food poisoning scares that we hear about in the news. Sure, today's ships have every possible convenience imaginable, but are rarely used for actual transportation. We have planes for that now, right? However, it wasn't that long ago that we relied upon the great sailing vessels of yesteryear to get us across the sea. And the delicious gourmet foods? Not an option. In fact, before refrigeration, preserving food for a long voyage was a real problem. Often, provisions were scarce and people went hungry. However, if one looks far enough back into history, you'll find that many times the ships cook would take advantage of a certain stowaway, almost certain to be found on board that made a tasty and nutritious addition to the stockpot. They were lovingly referred to as millers. Millers, dear listener, are rats. This is, of course, but one example of people consuming the feisty little rodents. There are, of course, many others, both in the past and present day. If free of disease, millers can be both nutritious and tasty. It would appear, and one New York artist is preparing and presenting them for all of you adventurous gastronomes out there. Here's the story of Laura Jen's Little Project. A New York artist has served up quite possibly every New Yorker's worst nightmare, a gourmet meal made from rats. Brooklyn artist Laura Jen put together the $100 ahead feast, plating up two courses of vermin-inspired food, beginning with a rat and pork patte, and following up with an entree of braised rat. The event which was created to explore urban self-sufficiency was entitled, "Tomorrow we will feast on what we catch." And Jen served the meal while wearing a dress made from 300 rat skins. The meal was prepared by Chef Yuri Hart. And Jen bought 75 rats bred for medical testing in a clean and safe facility in California for the meal. Taste tested beforehand by the artist and the chef. The main course of braised rat was described by some of the attendees as having the consistency and flavor of beef. Accompanying the meal was a California chardonnay and a Spanish granage. And Jen broke 16 years of vegetarianism herself to eat the rodent meal. Serving the 20 guests at her gallery in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Jen's meal was designed to take people out of their city-inspired comfort zone. I am hoping to give people the experience of pushing their boundaries, Jen said, and a video posted on Kickstarter. The meal was part of an exhibition which explores Jen's interest in self-sufficiency in city and modern urban areas. She has taught herself how to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. I've spent the past year and a half working on a new project exploring self-sufficiency in an urban environment, said Jen on her Kickstarter page. Diners at the Allegra La La Gallery were non-plussed about the food on offer. The head was removed, but you could see the limbs, said guest Clifford Owens 41 of the main course of braised and grilled rodent. "It freaked me out. "I live in New York and every day I encounter rats. "They're filthy," said the Queen's resident, adding that he and other patrons were made to sign a disclaimer from the gallery in case you died or choked on something. Owens noted that diners joked about the meal at the start, but settled into interesting conversation where a lot of people didn't obsess over it. At the end of the meal, there were apparently very few plates left with anything on them and Jen cleared up the leftover bones, which she is using to decorate the tables for future braved diners. Personally, I've never eaten rat, but I've had squirrel and that's close enough for me. However, just for fun, I did a little research and found a great old recipe for millers and onion sauce, which may be found in today's transcript at bothersomethings.com. Bon appetit. I'm Jeffrey Lynch, and that's this week's Spot of Bother. - So I'm pretty sure of the answer here, Jaredie, but would you eat it? - Yeah, absolutely. I'm not sure I'd eat it at 100 bucks a head, but I'd definitely eat it. - I would definitely eat it, most definitely. - Like with the bones and stuff, must we? - Yeah, well, I mean, I probably wouldn't present it with its limbs still, but yeah, I would most definitely eat that. I've eaten guinea pig before, and it was good. - If the idea of the project was to connect a little more with your urban landscape and the food that you can eat there, I kind of understand why the limbs are still there, but at the same time, it doesn't, my problem is better. - Make your presentation nicer. - Eating rats is generally because of what they pick up along the way. That's what I consider. - Yeah, exactly. If you like breed your own rats and wanna eat 'em, I mean, I'm not gonna suggest that to people because I'm sure it's probably illegal or something, but you know, there's nothing wrong with eating meat that you know where it's from. - Frozen ones from your local pet store. - Oh yeah. - Rats, really? - Yeah, you can get rat-sized, yeah. - For snake feeding. - Indeed. - Definitely, I would most definitely eat rats. And he came up with that Miller recipe that he's gonna put in the transcript, which I think is awesome. Not that I'm gonna make you guys eat rat, I swear, but I don't think I could. No, no. - Really? - No. - Even if it was like a, a perfectly, okay. - Okay, so I bought this Greek yogurt that had strawberry at the bottom and I stirred it and I couldn't finish it. I'm like, "Stew her, man, I can't handle it." I swear to God, I'm really not that picky, but this is a good example of, if I'm not gonna eat the Greek yogurt, I'm not gonna eat the rat. - Yeah, I dig that. But that totally reminded me of a recipe book that my mom has that has things like muskrat and bat and beaver and skunk and stuff like that. We should see if we can find some awesome recipes. See what I could get you to eat. - We're going a sort of camping class like camping for an upcoming family reunion. I should make you guys eat some beaver. - No, I would totally eat beaver. - There's actually a long game shop on the way up there. - Beaver Tail Soup. - Can I just ask something selfishly here on the show? Can I ask, I need to bring noodles long distance. How do I keep them not from getting gross? Thank you, it's penne, I'm done. - Well, I think actually if you just include the frozen rats inside the salad. - I don't care about the rats, penne noodles. - Keeps the penne cold, the frozen rats will keep the penne cold. Thanks a lot, Jeff. - Yes. - Properly bothersome, as always. - Mm-hmm, deliciously bothersome. - It's disgusting. - Definitely swing by bothersomethings.com to check out that recipe. - Please do. - Or we'll hear about it. You know, it brings a different connotation to Miller's pub downtown here. - Yeah, yeah, well, there are multiple, there are many millers, many types of millers. - I hope there aren't too many millers because that would indeed be horrible. Just like this horrible history. - Come from beyond to save us from our own past, Gibraltar has found only one solution to protect us. Here, now, is your horrible histories. - Well, that's fixed. - I don't know, LabK. Seems like every time we fix something, another piece of this thing breaks. - It's almost like the veils of history are rebelling against us. - You're right, that is something rich with today. Damn time traveler, boom, boom, boom. - You're right, and I should just talk about something I like. Welcome again, my fellow mobsters to your horrible histories. LabK can't pull that lever and histoscope on. First known as educational comics, founded by Max Gaines, former editor of the comic book "Pumpity of All American Publishers", when the company merged with DC Comics in 1944, Gaines written and retained the rights to the comic book and published stories of the Bible, and began his new company with plans to market comics about science history and Bible stories. Churches a decade later, Max Gaines had been one of the pioneers of the comic book form with Eastern color printing's pro-comic book, proto-comic book, funnies on parade and deal publishing of famous funnies, carnival of comics, considered by historians the first true American comic book. When Max Gaines died in 1947 in a voting accident, his son William inherited the company. After serving four years in the Army Air Corps, Gaines returned to home to finish school at New York University, playing to work as a chemistry teacher. He never taught, but instead took over the family business in 1949 and 1950, Bill Gaines began a new line of titles featuring horror, suspense, science fiction, military and crime fictions. His editors, Al Friendstein and Harvey Kurtzman, also drew covers and stories, and gave assignments as prominent and highly accomplished freelance artists as Johnny Craig, Reed Cantwell, Jack Davis, Bill Edner, George Evans, Frank Frisetta, Graham Angles, Jack Carmen, Bernard Kringesman, Joel Orlando, John Severin, Elle Vomison, Basil Worvinton, and Wally Wood. With input from Gaines, the stories were scripted by Kurtzman, pharmacy and Craig. Other writers, including Carl Withers, and Jack Ordell, Otto Bernder were later brought on board. Entertaining comics had success with its fresh approach in pioneering form and pioneered informing relationships with its readers, with its letters to the editor and fan organization, the National E.C. Comics Addicts Club. E.C. Comics promoted stable of illustrators, allowing each to sign his art and encourage them to develop idiosyncratic styles. Company additionally produced one page biographies for each of them in the comics. This was in contrast to the industry's comic pride in which credits were off and missing. Although some artists from other companies, such as Jack Kirby, Joel Simon Team, Jack Craig, and Bob Kane had been promoted prominently. E.C. published the correct lines under its entertaining comics umbrella. Most notably were its horror books, Tales from the Crypt, The Vault of Horror, and The Haunted Fear. The company's war comics, Frontline Combat, and Two-Fisted Tales often featured, where he died on heroic stories, out of step with the jingleistic times. Shock suspense stories tackled weighty issues, such as racism, sex and drug abuse, and the American way of life. E.C. always claimed to be the, always claimed to be proud of our science fiction tales, with weird science, weird fantasy published stories, unlike the space operas, its crime suspense stories had many parallels with film and law. Superior illustrations of these stories with surprising endings that became E.C.'s trademark. Gains would generally stay up late and read large amounts of material while seeking springboards for sobri-concept. The next day, he would present each premise until final theme found when he thought they could develop into a story. E.C.'s peak final sign edited seven titles or cursed men handle three. Artists were assigned to stories specific to their talents. Davis and Inkles often drew gruesome, supernatural theme tales, while Caiman and Evans drew tamer material. With hundreds of stories written in common themes surfaced. Some E.C.'s more well-known themes included ordinary situations given ironic or gruesome twists, often as poetic justice to the characters' crimes. The grim fairy tales, featuring gruesome interpretation and interpretations of such fairy tales as Hansel and Gretel's Sleeping Beauty and The Red Riding Hood. Siamese twins were a popular theme primarily among E.C.'s horror comics. You know, if you were the nine Siamese twin, the story appeared in E.C.'s horror crime comics between 1950 and 1954. Stories with political message often became common in E.C.'s science fiction suspense stories among many topics were lynching anti-Semitism and police corruption. Adactions of Ray Bradbury's science fiction stories, which appeared in two dozen E.C. comics started in 1952 with an incident in which Feinstein and Gaines plagiarized two of Bradbury's stories and combined them into a single tale. Learning of the story, Bradbury sent a note praising them while remarking that he had inadvertently not had received his payment for their use. E.C. sent a check and negotiated a productive series of Bradbury adaptations. But dark days for the company where I hit buttons and goals. We'll have to wait till next time. That's right, I'm a two-partner. Take that berry. Yeah, I heard that too. I've got something weird that's going on. Was that Kefka? (laughs) What, what, what, what, what? Yeah, I hope everything's okay down there with the histoscope. I'm not sure putting them in the basement was the best idea. I think maybe we should have put them up higher in the building so that we can blow them to the sides if necessary. I mean, not that we'd ever eject you out of the building throughout the building. Just in case something happens to it and then it exits through a wall again. I'm just saying the, the safety division is having some concerns lately. The production was great. Yeah, hearing the Tales from the Crypt theme. Well, let's, let's start at the start here though. I have some notes. I didn't really mean the addition. I meant like the, like hearing. Oh yeah, the clarity. Oh yeah, it was really good. Very nice. It's very interesting to hear that EC Comics came out of a legacy of. Did they say Bible stories? Bible stories and such. I have to say that the Tales of, well, what I'm unfairly going to call is the Tales from the Crypt trio of comics because the witch and the vault keeper, they all sort of switched around every issue. Those comics had a huge influence on me as a child and they definitely, actually I dig them out of, you know, the 10 cent, 25 cent box of comics out of yard sale. You still do. Well, you're going to blast them when I can. I loved that Ray Bradbury part. Yeah. Oh, by the way, I haven't received my royalties for this yet, but great story. But when I'm always yamering on about the use of pulp in sort of public change and how it can both be a harboring and an agent of change if you will, definitely out of that EC Comics mode. Like I remember, I mean, I'm talking maybe a 12 year old boy and I'm reading stuff like Sargent Rock, which does have its moments of, you know, defeat and weary-eyed thousand-yard stairs and it's a war worth it or whatever, but. Yeah, they have some Sargent Rock comics that my grandparent says that I still read every time I go there. But it was really the EC combat stories. Like those war stories as a kid that really taught me, like, man, this seems pretty horrible. War. War never changes. Go, go, go. Excellent piece, excellent piece. Yeah, thanks a lot to Walter. Thanks a lot to Walter, yeah. So we have another offering from Nick, Captain Picard Tyler this week, but it's something a little out of the ordinary. That's what I heard. Franklin the Gash Tale. I don't know if you're aware, if you swim by CaptainPikkart.com, Nick actually keeps up a series of different threads and I like stories. And these are the fairly gruesome ones, aren't they? Well, let's just see what Nick is doing to us. A little bit more horror than pirate. Mm-hmm. If you would love a good tale of the splash of the salty bride on your face, then prepare yourself for the adventurous expulsion of Captain Ignatius Picard. Ahhh! Now I like to do King's Cross, exhausted by my enforced convalescence in the country. The presence of Dorianna, my cousin's young daughter, charged with nursing me and her mother's absence, it kept me at bed for weeks. Still, it changes almost as good as a rest. London's toxic atmosphere was atomic to my replenished organs, in diffusing my blood with its murky oils. I had planned to take a carriage to the nearest brothel in accordance with my own traditions. To know a city's halls is to know the city. But the sight of Anob Goblin tickled me onto a diversion. He was skulking past mountains of luggage on the platform's edge. The fellow seemed normal, but for his legs, which was so truncated as to belie the speed at which he scuttled past the last of the disembarking passengers. I have a fascination with the freakish, and he fit neatly into my case of entrigement. His unwholesome facial hair, attempting to escape his chin and cheek by clinging to the woolen scarf and hood, which enshrouded his lumpy skull. Startling eyes attempted to climb out of his face, subtly a glaze, perhaps more promising in my intended diversion. I followed him obliquely, taking time to read the times and the pornographic graffiti as he scurried through the station. Pausing beside appealing cabaret's advertisement, he seemed rather like the pixiest child depicted there, though grotesquely mangled. Then he bared his frightful teeth and ducked through a chain doorway. Allowing him some headway, I slipped through the bidden exit behind him. There followed a dark corridor, ever the route to bliss, dripping darkly about my boots. Stubbs of candles gutted hazily in the gloom. My quarry had slipped out of sight. I sensed that this subterranean realm could hold a treasure greater than the cave of methylated spirits or the fungal palace of Leeds. The tunnel seemed endless and its dampness became entwined with the smell I assumed to be from fish oil candles. Promising. Abruptly, my passage was blocked by the emergence of two shadowy figures and their rather obvious clubs. I scarcely had time to comment on the pairing of a burly thug and mincing goon before I was beaten into a violent slumber. A greasy orange firelight pushed at my eyelids and the ill-educated chanting of Londoners thrust their way into my ears. Reluctantly, I split my lids to find my view occluded by an over-toughted moon waxing out of its breeches. My gaze was fixed until it shuffled away. I was bound to a pillar in a cellar thronging with the refuse of the capital's misbegetting population. Da Vinci would have been horrified by these digressions from his golden proportions. Be still would be too kind and I suspected I was witness to the birth of a new species, or possibly several. I can scarcely enumerate the variations of shoe, limb, and facial architecture. Oh, I'd also been stripped, save for my decency maintaining crevat, and smeared with the fishy waste their culture was based upon. Whilst I am used to disporting my talents at a dinner party, I rarely find myself with quite such attention upon me, as was weighed down on me in that dank cavern. Indeed, as they waved their stumps and weebly appendages, I recognized in their manner the frothy spasms of spiritualism, here hijacked by the gutter-tongued cockneys. The odd goblin I'd followed from the railway beat his way to my side, and in a passable imitation of English, brought order, or at least a grunting silence the gathering. They brought forth a chalice of some frothy liquid, intending to force it down me. Well, I'd have powerful first by this point, and cheerfully tossed it back to the subtroll's audible awe. The fluid foamed in my mouth, tickling my teeth with its narcotic buzz, now hill was something new, not a poison as I'd feared it might be, and witnessing the horde also guzzling away, this was more a liberating liqueur. Suddenly, I was freed from my bonds, and I gave in to the intoxicants urging, and scampered, hooting like an elegant baboon. The crowd caped with me, at the of goblin signal. Feeling a little delirious, I clambered onto a rude deus and began a mighty oration. Its exact subject eludes me now, but my invective and inpiration were loud and clear. Quite what decisions I'd made I shall never know, but I led that horde of manimals out of their troglitic meeting place, proudly bearing one of their trouty braziers into the midst of the English public. The times informed me that we raised much of the British Museum and tainted the rest with our disdain for anatomical perfection. I apparently led my convoy of ugly into a frenzy of violence when we gatecrashed a party of the gentry. It is possible they took us for clowns, or a theatrical troop seized with success, or despaired her latest show. By all accounts it was a fine afternoon. We occupied a shopping arcade, performed an elective surgery in Harley Street, and stole all the clotted fudge we could find. The police responded according to their nature, by glubbing wildly at the fray, harming beast and man equally until both parties fled. I myself awoke under a railway arch, the cloven feet of a dwarven girl clasped my chin. What an exciting return to the city. But I figured I ought to quit London just as swiftly, despite the rebellious thrills I tasted. No, Doriana's freckled cheeks beckoned once more. Never a dull moment with the gash. I quite enjoyed that... The reading, the telling. Yeah, that bit of occult misadventure. Yeah. Very nice. He used a certain phrasing that struck me elegant baboon. I really quite enjoyed that. Yes. But it also reminded me of a, and this is quite the sidetrack. Have you guys ever heard of Oliver the Chimp? No. Oliver the Chimp. Oliver the Chimp, I think it was from the 70s. He was bought by a couple who essentially supplied like movie apes, movie animals. Oliver the Chimp was bald. And he looked very much like... A person? A human. Yep. Really? To the point where they didn't end up using him because he looked unnervingly human. And a lot of these other tales cropped up, I'm to understand, like he smelled wrong for a chimp and all of these other things, but who knows how much of it is? It's true, but actually, Jessica, I think I've got a little clip somewhere. Now, I'm not saying that he was actually part human, but I know that genetically there is feasibly a way to make that happen. Really? It may be lab-based. Can we get hairless? To make a half human half, chimpanzee. Really? A bit fun. I don't know what the end result would. I think that at this point, science essentially is saying, yes, it's possible, but who... We're not going to do it. Yeah. But on this other hand, and I hate to be a conspiracist, but it was the '70s and science was working abroad strokes back then. To quote the tick now, it's all molecule-molecule-molecule. Anyway. Pulpy, interesting. Yeah, really an entry captain, or Franklin, or Nick. Thanks a lot for the tale. You can find more of Captain Pighart's human and animal interactions at CaptainPighart.com. Actually, sometimes hybrids as well, which is... Yeah. Yeah, he has a love of the mermaids. He never know. And all the maids. Oh, like breaking news. We didn't think we had one, but... ...it seems the fish. It got a little muddled up and he was right back here sending in his work, so... Because he's always listening. He's always listening. Fresh fish. A new batch of cinematic pulp with the always listening. Three-day fish. Fresh fish. Hey, Flashcast. Three-day fish here. With their another review. This week, Diary of Olympic Kid came out, so I'm going to do a retro review. I haven't done it in a while. I'm kind of excited. So here I go. On the Netflix, you can find a TV movie of one of Terry Pratchett's books called The Color of Magic. It is actually two books, so they just use the first book's name. The second book is called Light Fantastic. It follows the troubled adventures of Rincewind, a failure of a wizard who is leading Ankh Morpork, the greatest city of Discworld's first tourist, on a series of misadventures. Now, it's been a while since I read the books. And while I did notice some changes, the movie seemed pretty loyal to the book. Kept all the good jokes. The other impressive thing I found about this movie is the cat Sean Aston is in it. He played same way as Kimji. Christopher Lee is also in it, who played Saruman. And a few people from Doctor Who are in it. It's very much done with a Terry Pratchett sense of humor, which means it's very British. Which is good. British humor is quite funny all the time. The graphics are about as good as you can hope TV movie graphics to be. And the acting is, it's decent. It's very acceptable for what it is. It's getting a lot of emails anyway. It's a two-parter. I think I mentioned this. They're both an hour and a half. And it does a very good job, really, of capturing the book I feel anyway. So, I'm going to give this a pretty yellow light. I'm going to give this a yellow light, because not everyone likes TV movies. A lot of people think TV movies are lame. I think they have their place. Now, part of the reason I watched in the first place is because I liked Terry Pratchett. Oh, I should also mention Tim Curry's in this movie, which hasn't been much in a while, has he? But he's as Tim Curry as ever, I assure you. But like I was saying, I know I watched it because it was a Terry Pratchett based flick. And so that was probably a big part of the reason why I liked it. If you don't care for Terry Pratchett or you don't care for subtle British humor, then maybe not your type of movie. And that's okay, because we still love you. That is all for this week. Always listening. Nicely done, Fish. Yeah, very nice. Interesting recommendation. You may want to turn off your email notifications next time. That was awesome. I think this is a good example of how something a public medium like television movies, which I would argue is the cheap ubiquitous. Everyone has access to it, but you don't necessarily have to have a great budget going into a TV movie. You can get something like a Terry Pratchett book, which I think a lot of people are deeply into Pratchett. But for people not so, it's a pretty formidable party. It's a pretty formidable pile of books to get into. It's hard to know where to grab that tail. And I wonder actually, because of the tourist nature of this one, if it might make a good introduction for people to actually be able to access the rest of the universe. But yeah, you know, pulp can get away with more on less in a weird sort of way. But on the other hand, Fish, I will disagree on one point that I love British comedy. The majority of it brilliant. But I have seen the last few seasons of Are You Being Served, and I will tell you that it is not universally. Anyhow, thanks a lot, Fish. Thank you very much. It looks like we have something from Gigantor. Something a little different than the normal. Yeah, a review I hear. I think it's something largely different because it's from Gigantor. Hey guys, Gigantor here. Due to some hubbub about patient information, creepy collars are going to have to take a bit of a hiatus. There's been a bit of a crackdown, and though I haven't been breaking any rules as far as I know, I'm just going to wait until the smoke clears a bit. However, with Fan Expo coming up and a Shindig at snakes and lattes to look forward to, I thought I'd give a board game review. Tonight I'm going to review a game out of my own collection that I played recently with fellow mobster Nutty in her hubby tech. We played zombies. That's with three exclamation marks. The game is by Twilight Creations. It accommodates two to six players, and it's for ages 12 and up. I believe the price tag was around the $20 mark. A quick disclaimer. If you're quick to anger, then this isn't the game for you. The object is to gather 25 trophies by dispatching them with extreme prejudice or by getting to the helicopter before the other players. Armed with cards and random dice rolls, usually the most cutthroat and doucheous moves will lead to victory. The game is fairly simple, and after producing a small four-page rulebook, you're off and ready to screw over the other players. Oh yeah, and kill zombies. It's a very fun game, but it is a little deceiving. The board is a stack of tiles that each player places a new one at the beginning of their turn. What started as a tiny board soon ends up monopolizing a lot of table space. The same thing can be said for the game length. With constant cards being played against the leader of the pack, it's hard to finish in under a couple of hours. I don't think I've been in a game that has ended under two hours. Once somebody gets close to the end, a card gets played, and that person usually has to start over, and then the next person plays another card to screw the next guy over, and so on and so forth. The artwork in comedy put into the cards is excellent, and the planning that was involved to make sure that every tile could be played without some kind of space paradox is commendable. All in all, zombies is an enjoyable good time. As long as you don't mind being awarded the douchebag prize by your friends, I'm going to give zombies three out of five blazing mobster torches. The game can run on, and there's a higher than normal chance that you could lose some friends. Hopefully that doesn't end up being the case, and if you're well prepared for screw-dah moves and douche attacks, then you're going to have yourself a good time. That's my review of zombies. Have a good one, guys. Speaking of enemy bags while playing games, it's pretty funny when you watch these two play games together, especially if it's getting really heated and there's zombies of boot on the Xbox. Oh, you're talking about Left or Dead? Yeah, a popo will be like, "Where did you go? I can't see you!" I didn't be like, "I'm right here. I'm right here." He'd be like, "Back me up." She's like, "I don't know, man. The tank's got me. What do you want me to do?" Little help here. What do you want? I got a hunter on me. Jeez. I have to say, okay, first of all... I want to go play Left or Dead. Nicely done. Yeah, love the review. Yeah, I hope this continues. That's great. I think you picked a very ripe topic. I think it's very prominent in the mob. We have a few prominent board gamers. Yeah, if anybody else wants to send in a game review, yeah. Yeah. Maybe I should make a theme song. Absolutely. I am quite looking forward to Snakes and Lottes. Oh, yes. The Fan Expo schedule, I may have mentioned this before, but the Fan Expo schedule is released on August 10th, coming up very quickly. Yep. So we're going to release the mob shadow schedule. That'll be up by the flash mob.ding.com. Yep. We're hoping to see some of you coming out. We understand that the mob is spread out all over the world. We are a broad mod, but we are a bit thin. We're global. Yeah. So if you can... Except for North Carolina. Yeah. There's boards. I had some sorry I'm pregnant and won't be able to make it, or sorry my wife is pregnant and I won't be able to make it. Yep. But... That'll happen. Babies are born. Absolutely. Get them while they're young. So yes, well done, Jack Antor. Yeah, thank you. But I should note that I have played this game, and most notably likely at my bachelor party. Oh, that's cool. Which is an interesting experience to have that many fellows in a room with liquor. Try and screw each other over in zombies. In a game that is really about being a jerk as much as possible. That's great. Being an enema bag. But no friends were lost. I feel like friendships, if anything, were formed against me. Um... Yeah, and speaking of friendships, I really am saddened to have missed out on the Nutty Gigantor tech window. I know. I remember seeing the photos as it was happening. I was like, "Oh, bad, I wish I were there!" Yeah, we were very fortunate to be able to share a little bit of FaceTime. Oh, yeah. Just hop on. Go on. It was a little bit of my work at the beginning, because we didn't have to say that. Yeah, always technical issues. Yeah, yeah. Gigantor and his prevalence. It was a good time had by all. Yeah. Hopefully that kind of meetup will be better facilitated by the new mob. Mm-hmm. Very good. So what we have coming up next? I believe it's time for... Mailback! Before we get our hands into the sack, I should mention that anyone can send their text or mp3s to comments@flashpulp.com. We're happy to hear from you. Mm-hmm. Actually, before we sack handle, I believe we have a little bit of extra candy coming out of the unknown package. I know. And we've made some delicious decisions based on some discussion had at www.theflashmub.ning.com. And this episode has been brought to you, man. Yeah. So we're going on with some Smarties, which... All right. Look, suspiciously... Yeah, American Smarties, which look like Canadian rockets, but nothing like Canadian Smarties. Like the packaging, the logo, the everything about this is rocket. And rockets. I would like for someone to figure out why that is. Well, we know that there's a long-standing copyright feud between Cadbury and... the other Smartie Maker. Hey! Rockets! Rocket, man! My stepdad like these. So, during Halloween, I'd always give him my rockets. And as a child, I must tell you, which I have told very little people in my life. As a very young child, I ground them up and I snorted them to see what would happen. It burned. Well, there were a couple other girls. So it wasn't really my idea, but... That kind of stuff happens when you're a kid. But yeah, that's pretty... Yeah. Yeah, there's a big one in Jaredie's forehead. Like, what the hell were you thinking? No, no, no, that happens. Yeah, whatever. Okay, so just in case you don't know what Smarties or rockets are, kind of a somewhat chalky, but flavor-filled candy. We're in little circles coming at kind of... Discs. Coming at a tube of, I don't know, 20 or 50? I don't know. [laughs] Somewhere between there. There's my estimation skills. Yeah, probably closer to 20. Yeah, they're powdery and delicious. Ah. They taste just a smidge like a pez. Thanks, Rich. That's good. That's good. And that means we get to eat more candy later. Whew! Well, now that we've had some of... Rich's candy, why don't we hear what the time traveler has to say? [music] ♪ The tirelessly seeks through the ages for fictions ♪ ♪ Besties reach the time traveler ♪ Hello, Flashpulp crew and fellow mobsters. Rich the time traveler here. A quick tip for all you new time travelers. If you keep ending up somewhere in the 1950s, no matter what you do, open the destination time coordinate settings and make sure under coordinate properties, the checkbox for howdy duty is not selected. I like the return to the Hundred Kingdoms and another rescue. The details about the political machinations of the court really gave me the flavor of Gormangast. It gave the feeling of a sort of constant contriving in layers of players working within and against each other without being entirely aware of one another at all times. It would be interesting to see more court and political details explored in this world. Any insight in where you might head with this? Identity was interesting. I thought you were trying to give the feel of the protagonist sort of falling forward on his own momentum, oblivious to the threats around him. It mostly worked, but near the end, I felt like it was losing the threat a bit. Not entirely sure why. Solid story, don't get me wrong, and maybe that wasn't what you're going for either. The last installment of Doc Azriel took me a bit by surprise. I don't know if it's what Dave went and was shooting for, but it gave me an instant 7 vibe, which took the story to a very dark place. Not that that's bad either way. It didn't make me perk up and listen very carefully, and I wonder where the story will turn next. Still we're eating wool, but we did just finish Zombiekins by Kevin Bulger. I mentioned it before, but here is the black back cover blurb again. He's a little bit bunny, and a little bit teddy, and a whole lot of zombie. The little town of Dementityville is as boring as they come, but a mysterious stuffed animal is about to liven things up. Stanley Noodleman buys Zombiekins at a yard sale because it looks cuddly and creepy cute, when Zombiekins gets loose at school, Stanley finds himself in grave danger. Can Stanley and his best friend Miranda save their schoolmates from eternal zombification? Zombiekins, this bunny's got bite. It was a very fun book to read. Bulger paced it well, had a good mix of humor and suspense in the book. He also puts in a few very long descriptive passages with strings and adjectives or verbs that are quite fun to read aloud, faster and faster until you're breathless. The scary isn't too scary, though it might be a bit much for kids under 5, so use your judgement there. It is probably a good fit for 5-12 year olds. Definitely look it up, and I'll probably pick up his other book, Sir Farks a lot, Hunts the Booger sometime in the future as well. I just finished watching the first of the direct-to-video Lost Boy sequels, The Tribe. This movie tries to mirror a lot of the original. Brother and his sister, who apparently he is the guardian of, moved to coastal California town for a fresh start after their parents have passed away. Vampire start messing with them, and the brother has to turn to Edgar Frog, still played by Corey Feldman, for help. While not as good as the original, it isn't bad. They try to appeal to the adolescent audience a bit with a bit more overt sexuality and some brief nudity, which I don't have a problem with. It just felt gratuitous not a place for some reason. There are a couple twists from the original that I felt like it was trying to set up in this film as well, but it went to the brink and never did. Not sure if it had been better if it had gone through with him, or not, since it seemed to be so telegraphed. There is one small twist in the credits, so make sure you stay through the whole of them. I'm going to have a review of the seconds equal, the thirst, next time. We did get to see the Dark Knight rises on date night. My wife and I rewatched Batman Begins and the Dark Knight over the week before the movie, so all the plot details set up in them were fresh in our heads. I don't think you have to do that to enjoy it, but I certainly think it didn't hurt. I know some people have been complaining about the pacing in the movie, especially the first half, but I thought it moved fairly well, and I couldn't believe when it was done how long the movie was. It felt like it went by much more quickly. Full disclaimer, I was never a big superhero comic book reader, so I don't have all the full history of all the various villains to work from, yet I still spotted all but one of the major surprises they tried to spring. Not that I think that makes it bad, but I can see how it might be a negative for some. Of course, the effects and action scenes were awesome as you would expect. Just finished time traveling through the last season of Fringe. As I said before, every time I watched that show, I felt like I'd been given a dose of retcon. The plot finally came together, and they went and started muddling it up by the end. It almost felt like they wrapped up everything in case this was the last season, and then threw in a few turns at the end just to be able to add another in case they got renewed. I think I would have dropped it, but they have announced that the next season actually will be the last season at the going to wrap up all the subplots completely. So I'll stick it through to the end and see how it works out. You guys were talking about tablet style eye, and I haven't done it jot, and it's quite good, so I'd recommend it as well. I also backed a stylist on Kickstarter that looked interesting. It's called the hand stylist, hand in all upper case. It hasn't delivered yet, should be here soon, so I'll let you know what I think of it. Sorry to hear that the mystery box, dun dun dun, is giving JRD and the rest of you so much grief on Twitter. I knew that box was no good. That's it for now. Fan X is inching ever closer. In fact, right now, as you're listening to this, it is exactly 21 days, 5 hours, 26 minutes, and 54 seconds until Fan X. If you are further closer to the start of Fan X than that, you may be caught in a localized chrono vortex. Please remain calm, and a trained chrono mechanic will be there shortly to assist. Tell Carrick Rises this is Rich. Thanks for calling in Rich. Our monsters are so awesome. That was a very full nugget. I'm a, I'm no master chrono not certainly, but I believe that if you find yourself temporarily trapped in the 50s, you may also have some sort of issue with your quantum leap mechanics. Mm hmm. Your back hula maybe off. Mm hmm. So with the tribe, I'm wondering if part of the problem, like it sounds like he enjoyed it well enough, but the original film was soaked in that 80s whimsy that was essential to the era. I think it was definitely Spielbergian influence, but this was sort of more of the near dark kind of a little bit grittier, a little aimed at something a little more, you know, gothy. Mm hmm. But to make a new film in the franchise, you obviously can't make it with that same, or at least master that same sort of atmosphere. Mm hmm. So I wonder if that's why he noticed the disparity, how they were making a little sexier for young backgrounds. Yeah. Spicing it up. Anyway, interesting, and I'm especially interested actually, I have to say, to hear what he thinks of the third, because usually the second may have some nostalgia behind it, and you know, I'm sure someone had enough love to get it made, but to see, I know the third one came out not long after the sequel, and I wonder if that was rushed to production, everything will fall apart there, as it often does in the third. Looking at you, Godfather. Zombie Kin sounded like a nice bit of young pulp. Mm hmm. It's very tough to find suitable stuff for kids of, you know, that age level. So it's definitely nice to hear that spread around. Yeah. I know Rich mentioned that he had reserved a kid's pulp related domain name, which I would one day love to see something happen with. Mm hmm. Yeah, he did that quite a while ago. I know we could certainly harvest reviews out of our own lulens. Mm hmm. So, consideration, Rich. Literary considerations. I have to agree about the seven dark vibe about the last Doc Azrael chapter. Mm hmm. I've missed him in the last few episodes. I hope he gets back to you. I've spoken to him. Yeah. He's okay. Okay. Yes. I recall when we were, when we were just done listening to that episode that we had very much thought the... And then he presented her with... Yeah. What's in the box? What's in the box? Yeah. Absolutely. Mm hmm. I think as well for your commentary on the Sophia Esperon entry. Yeah. I'd like to see a little bit more of that world explored as well. Yeah. The problem is extremely tempting, but it's not what I should be writing to close up Flashbulb. Like, we discussed 600 episodes, but that's not going to mean much if we end up with, you know, 20 special episodes of... Can I tell them why you named it The Hundred Kingdoms? Uh, sure go boy. Uh, he... and it was very clever of him. He figured, you know what? I don't want to have to keep track of this world because this is kind of like his sandbox fantasy world. And he wanted to be able to throw in references like The Tower of Almond, you know, and stuff like that. Without really having to talk about any backstory, but he didn't want to get too many confusing threads tangled either. So he figured, "Well, if there's like a hundred kingdoms, well, he's just from that kingdom over there." Nice and vague. We don't have to worry about this kingdom's politics or what's going on over there. It's one of the other kingdoms. Yeah. There's hundreds of them. But the terrible thing is that my brain automatically starts drawing lines between the things and wanting to cluster things. And you'll notice I used the title Archduke in that story, another rescue. Archduke is a very, like, not regularly. It's a rare title to be bestowed. I think it's had like one empire that's had Archdukes. So the Hungarians, I believe, were the only ones to institute Archdukes over top of their dukel system. So it's tempting to go a lot further with it than I am. Yeah. You know, this is my King Conan sort of, anyway, rejoinder to fairy tales, I don't know. It's a mix of hating Disney, well, not hating Disney, but kind of responding to the datedness of Disney films. And mixing that with Robert E. Howard's Conan character. Naturally. Yeah, Identity was a bit of an odd story. I really just wanted, it was an episode that almost went into a special episode. And it was almost sort of fairy tale-ish in its telling. I realized at the end, it got a little bit... It kind of augered into something a little more, maybe Clive Barker-en? Barkarian? Barkarian? Barker-esque. Barcy, yeah. There's always a race against the deadline for one, but two, I wanted it to bring us to a level of just how oblivious he really is to danger. And there was a bit of a disconnect that was necessary to do so. I hate going back and dissecting my own stories because everything should have been written better because I would spend forever writing everything. But there was a bit of a disconnect in that he wasn't dumb, he was just blind to danger. But at the end scene, there's obviously a lot going on that he should have reacted to in some different way. But at the same time, I just jotted it up to him being very concerned about his friend and his mother's rules over writing everything. Yes. Now again, if I have more time, I might make some different decisions, but time is time. Oh, let's get script. I liked it. Thanks. And thanks, Rich. As always for your commentaries. I'm quite looking forward to bumping into you in this timescape once we get to Fan Expo. No doubt. Can't wait to see your sandals. Now, we had an entry from Dylan Orion last episode, as you may recall, and we got to discussing how his lab setup is absolutely mad science. Oh, yes. And we were joking about it because we've had some folks come forward, Dr. Jones and a few other people. What are you, Dr. Jones? He's still out there here, Jones. We've had some people come forward and say, you know, I work in a lab and you're what I listen to while I'm, you know, spinning this interview or whatever. But Dylan Orion came forward with an impressive setup. I don't know what he's building over there, but it's really important. It is science. So actually, he's submitted some commentary on what exactly he is doing, I believe. Oh, good. Hello, Flashpaulk crew. This is Dylan Orion again. Once again, it's a beautiful Saturday afternoon, and I'm stuck in the lab. This is actually a data collection weekend for me, which means that I have to be here to start experiments about every four hours starting on Friday afternoon. I started this weekend. I started at six, my first experiment, 6pm, and this run is going to run until Tuesday night. So I'm going to be here pretty much nonstop for that time. So I'm a little more bitter and jealous of those that get to, you know, go outside or get a full night's sleep at night. But onto my comments. First off, big ups to three-day fish on the very dark black haul tail, the leap year tail, really, really dug it. So big ups for that. As far as why my family traveled around the country so much when I was growing up, when I was three, my family left Ohio where I had been born. And we were stationed in Canada by the Mennonite Central Committee. We were assigned to work alongside Aboriginal Cree communities in Canada. And while my parents weren't compensated very much monetarily, they were allowed two months of vacation for a year, and that would also roll over. So after a few years, they bought an RV, and so we did an awful lot of driving around Canada, as well as the United States, and exploring this great land of ours. I wanted to bring up, as far as JRD's comment, about fantasy novels being a cash cow or turning into series or franchises that were cash cows. I would actually love to recommend this book, Garrett P. Services Edison's Conquest of Mars, which is an unauthorized sequel to H.G. Wells's War of the Worlds. Really, really amazing fan fiction/fiction, whichever you want to call it. And really, this dude was a big fan of Edison, but it was also a big fan of the Martians. I would really recommend checking it out. So there have been a few more questions about my lab work. So I'm going to attempt to give you the elevator pitch, or, you know, the pitch that you could give somebody in the ride from the hotel lobby up to their room on the way back down, I guess. Okay, so I work with voltage gated potassium channels, and the majority of them are made up of at least two portions, a voltage sensor portion and a poor domain. And what I'm doing is I'm attempting to model voltage gating of a potassium channel. But rather than manipulating the voltage across a membrane, I'm actually manipulating the lipid micro-environment surrounding these channels. And then I'm doing measurements by using pulsed EPR, and that's that picture of that machine that I sent you guys. That is the pulsed EPR machine here at my university. So I use two pulsed EPR techniques. I use ECIM, which is electron spin echo envelope modulation, and that measures molecular micro-environments. So I'm using that, and I'm also using another technique called DEER, which is double electron-electron resonance, and that measures molecular distances like a molecular ruler. And so what I'm hoping to show is one, that I've produced an accurate model of voltage gating, and two, I'm trying to create a model of the voltage sensor movement as it moves from an open source. And it moves from an open state to a closed state. Now, that's what I'm doing, that's why I'm here all the time, and that's why I'm so angry and bitter all the time. So, yeah. Also, I really, really just wanted to bring up this last thing about the Archie universe. I wanted to point out that Dan de Carlo, one of the original Archie artists who created this kind of the Riverdale look, if you want to call it that. Pre Archie did a fair amount of pin-up art that features characters that look quite a bit like the characters that you might see in the Archie universe. So, you know, right in the childhood. Alright, that's all I got for this week. Look forward to hearing what you come out with next. This is Dylan Orion signing off. Wow, that was the elevator explanation. It's pretty fancy. Yeah, I hope it's a tall building. I wish that we could somehow reduce your rage. Yeah, attention. Yeah. A happy scientist is a productive one. It raises a lot of questions for me, but I don't know that I have enough education to be prodding at it. It sounds like, uh, anyway. You should see the wheels in his head turning. Because he has wheels in his head. Yeah. And their turn. So, I'm going to instill. Fascinating. Definitely fascinating. I would actually be quite interested in hearing more. I would love to go see a tour of where he's working. Now, obviously, when you get down to thesis work, it's always sort of like this. It's such a specific little detail that, you know, it's right in the heart of things people aren't going to entirely grasp if they're outside of the field. And that's true, you know, all the way from science to the arts and get some weird essay about some long dead historian or whatever. But it sounds fantastic. Mm-hmm. Building bio-machines. I don't know what's going on there. Anyway, I hope you survived the data collection period. That's all I'm saying. Yeah. Do you get to sleep in that period? Or is it like, hit the snooze button, get up, 15 minutes, amble over to the lab? It's actually something that they do for all their parenting courses too. Yeah. Yeah, fair enough. The science is like having a baby. So, it's like having a baby. Anyway, I'm glad we've latched. Glad we can give you stuff to listen to. Yeah. You clearly need more though. Yeah, go get some coffee. Quite agreed about Fisher's black all-tail. Mm-hmm. Excellent entry. Yeah, I love it. I was going to get a little bit into it in the back end, but yeah. Mm-hmm. Nicely done, sir. And wow, fascinating upbringing, being able to travel around in an RV and working with the Creeve and that's... Mm-hmm. I'd be interested to know, like, where in Canada, if you guys... Mm-hmm. And if anything, I'm pressed in and that we should go see. Cruising through our neighborhood. Mm-hmm. I will definitely be looking into Edison's conquest of Mars. Yeah. That sounds pretty cool. War of the World is really high up there in my pantheon of great, you know, formative novels. And this sounds like a lot of fun. Yeah. I'm not entirely surprised to hear the Archie pin-up connection, although it is very interesting. Since making those comments, I've been kind of keeping an eye when we wander into the convenience store because it's so ubiquitous. Like Archie is the one comic you can depend on even like a grocery store having on the shelf. Mm-hmm. Having the little Archie novel size. But, man, you can see the pin-up inspiration there, like that 50 style of... Yeah. Very interesting. Mm-hmm. And looping back to that kind of Archie... What kind of opinions does Archie lead us to form? It's kind of interesting because it feels like Archie started as a weird, you know, ooh, it's a dude with two to the eighties. But, you know, maybe Betty and Veronica. They find out that they're kind of into each other and... They're best friends. Then all of a sudden it becomes a much more equitable relationship. There you go. I've never heard of that sort of thing. Never. You can follow Dylan on Twitter at Dylan or on, as you mentioned. You can actually follow Rich the Time Traveler at Device Null and the Unknown Package at Unknown Package. Thanks everybody who submits. And the comments for the mailbag. We really appreciate it. Careful that the Unknown Package eats souls. Mm-hmm. Oh, actually. Before we go, Dylan Orion has been including just these fantastic pop culture mashup art pieces. Or just take some pop culture that are a little surprising. There's a He-Man photo. He sent along, which is a He-Man done in a very modern, realistic fantasy style. Awesome. And it's very grown up and interesting. And he sent along a Dr. Mario illustration that was essentially Mario as Hunter S. Thompson, which was quick. Oh, yes. That was so fantastic. So, yes. Absolutely. I'll post those up in the show notes. I'll credit them where I can. Mm-hmm. Thanks a lot. Yeah. Thanks a lot for something in the long deal. Mm-hmm. Okay. I think it's time for... Are you a daddy? Oh, oh. My computer died and I am sad. Yeah. This is really the elephant in the room. I'll episode the one we haven't touched yet, but... There's no decals on this laptop. Yeah, we've gotten the Skinner Co. production studios up and running on my laptop in the interim, but... You might be hearing some new mailbag noises and such and so forth. Mm, tragedy. We managed to save a lot on Dropbox. Mm-hmm. That's what he says. Yeah, well. Huge, huge folder of sound effects. Gone forever. If only you'd listen to mine. Listen, you say that you said this thing, but didn't you say? Never said. Never. Never said. Say it. Say it. Say it. I know you're just moving through the faces of grief and this is your anger. This is my screw you face. Yeah. But you are working on your live rendition again of the... Yes. I am practicing. I am working. Working through your pain. Mm-hmm. Every once in a while, Ms. Nunn will come up to me and she'll be like, "I'm sorry, Jesse." And I'm like, "You're talking about like a beard, right?" Yeah. And she's like, "He is." She just knows I'm grieving. It's a good little geek. The art. Oh. Now ratio. Going back to this radio project X thing, that's coming up soon. And the 14th. Yeah. I'm really excited about it. The Black Swan and Toronto. That's right. And I know you're going to be doing a little bit of touching up of the script, but we will be reading one of our older scripts. Mm-hmm. But a fan favorite. Yeah. Well, not only is it a fan favorite, it's actually my favorite. We're going to... Can I give away which one it is? Yeah, absolutely. We're going to be reading the last pilgrimage. The one with Aggie the Sower. With some modifications. Mm-hmm. And this is... Make it a little more stage friendly. This is actually brought about a very unique problem for me. And I can practice this all I want. You know, I every once in a while listened to this one on my iPod because I enjoyed so much. So I want to go over it before I'm reading it live. But I don't think I can even get through listening to this without tearing up. At least once or twice. Yeah. Doing it live. She should work the crowd, man. Work it. I was discussing this with Jma earlier. And I was tearing up even just thinking about it. I'm really wondering if I'm going to have a problem on stage reading this. I won't deny some mild pride in having written something that makes you so emotional that you can't even... Yeah, well, that was sort of... Well, it makes me cry when I listened to it. And yeah, I still want to listen to it again, you know? Anyway. I'm sure we'll figure it out. So that should be fun. I'm sure you can cry at it beforehand. Yep. Yep, that's right. Backroom plots. So the computer death pushed back the Ruby stories. Wednesday, we will be hearing the first part of a three-parter. But fish was very kind to step in with a guest episode. A very able black-all tail, as we mentioned. Quite enjoyed it. Quite reminded me that we got to get back to Sir Thomas and his business out in the woods. I've actually had the next story on tap since the green ship incident, if you will. And that whole scene with Him and Mary. But the next part is a bit tricky. Yeah. And I think I'm just going to present it in the way that I so often do by not really presenting it at all. So, yeah. Stick around for that one. Stick around for that little magic trick. In the meantime, the Ruby episodes, I'm actually, in a weird way, I'm almost ahead because of the technical failure. I mean, I'm further into the script than I normally would be. The first two parts are essentially done. They just need to be, let's say, shined up. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think that we're going to wait for the next Flashcast, possibly an extra day or two. Just because timing is going to be a little tight with us taking a road trip and the live showing of Flashpulp at Radio Project X. That's right. But we'll run through the Ruby Tales and then we'll be back on a regularly scheduled day after that. So, maybe Wednesday or Friday before the next Flashcast, but there will be episodes up Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Sounds good. Anyhow, I can hear the din outside turning into a ruckus and I believe that our children may be sharpening spears. So, I think it's time to end the show. If you have comments, questions, chunks of poo, you want to flu? No. [laughter] If you'd like to hear some more of our chattery, you can follow us on SkinnerCo, or at Individually at JRD Skinner, the Jessica May, or Poponex with a Zero. Big thanks to Jim. Thank you, Jim. Thank you for hosting wiki.flashpulp.com and flashpulp.com. If you enjoyed the show, tell a friend. If you really enjoy the show, well, we've got a donate button on the site. If you have comments, questions, or suggestions, you can find us at flashpulp.com or email us techs or mp3s to comments@flashpulp.com. Jessica May's vocal talents and musical stylings can be found at mateunes.com. The entire round of flashpulp can be found at flashpulp.com or via the search bar on iTunes. And flashcast is released in the Canadian Greed of Commons attribution. I'd like to hear from you. Bye, license. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] (bell chimes) [BLANK_AUDIO]