Enjoy Stuff: A TechnoRetro Podcast

Atari's Star Wars the Arcade Game was released 40 years ago and quickly became one of the most popular arcade games of all time. With groundbreaking innovations and real Star Wars sounds, it's still fun to play. Jay and Shua try their best to use the Force on Enjoy Stuff!

Join us in the arcade as we look back on the iconic stand-up (and sit-down) game Star Wars the Arcade Game.

News

Get ready for the release of a new Atari 2600 that will play your old games too!

Star Wars - Dark Forces is getting a remastered release for PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch

It’s time for your Halloween and fall cereals and merchandise including It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown cereal, Rice Krispies, and more

The trailer for Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon has gotten some people excited, but is it a little too derivative?

Check out our TeePublic store for some enjoyable swag and all the latest fashion trends

What we’re Enjoying

On a recent vacation trip, Jay checked out a legendary Candy store in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania called Mr Ed’s Elephant Museum & Candy Emporium. It’s a fun store with a nice nostalgic feeling. Plus, Mr. Ed’s is to elephants what Rancho Obi-Wan is to Star Wars. A gigantic collection of crazy pachyderms. Shua enjoyed the pride he felt when dropped off his youngest to her new college in Rhode Island. With some stops in Boston and other scenic places along the way, his emotions were bubbling over, so let’s keep him distracted.

Enjoy Video Games! 

Riding the hype of the newly released Return of the Jedi, Atari released a new game that used a variety of techniques to display the graphics. Using the mathematical based vector graphic method, they sacrificed the solid shapes of a raster game, with the sharper, faster electron beam method. 

It included 3 levels that would get increasingly difficult. A Tie Fighter battle, flying along the surface shooting towers, and a run down the Death Star trench challenged the player and put you right in the center of the movie action. A stand-up and a sit-down “cockpit” version were available, making fans even more excited to feel like they were a part of the story. 

Plus, it was the first game to use digitized voices and music (and they were straight from the movie!) And the developers hid (rebelliously) a bunch of Easter eggs including their own names. A simple game with line graphics and yet we are still excited to play it. 

Did you get to play the arcade version of Star Wars? How many levels can you clear? First person that emails me with the subject line, “R2, try to increase the power!” will get a special mention on the show.  Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]

Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs! 35 years ago, John McClane did just that, but when terrorists take over his wife's office building during the Christmas party, Bruce Willis will have to save the day and they will find he is pretty Die Hard on Enjoy Stuff!

Yippee Ki Yay Enjoy Stuffers! Let’s look back at one of the best action movies ever as we celebrate the 35th anniversary of Bruce Willis in Die Hard. 

News

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will soon be part of our movie collection!

The director of TRON: Ares confirms that the Hollywood has caused the halting of production

Check out our TeePublic store for some enjoyable swag and all the latest fashion trends

What we’re Enjoying

Shua finally started listening to a book that’s been in his queue for a while; Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly. It’s a pretty inspirational story of women overcoming a lot of prejudice and hardship to help with a major scientific event in American history. Jay got the opportunity to see a classic Bruce Lee movie at his local theater. Enter the Dragon was a significant film in the actor’s short, tragic career. And it was a fun one to watch too!

Enjoy Movies! 

Bruce Willis rocketed to stardom after starring in Die Hard during the summer of 1988. Directed by John McTiernan, this successful story got the everyman-action-hero genre going too. And it was the first film for the legendary icon Alan Rickman. That’s right. His very first movie! 

It had a ton of other great actors too, like Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson, William Atherton and more. The sequels were popular and have fans opinions mixed on what the better ones are, but everyone can agree the original is incredible. Join us as we look back on what we liked and the influence the movie had on Hollywood. 

Did you Die Hard? What’s your favorite line? First person that emails me with the subject line, “Yippee Ki Yay” will get a special mention on the show.  Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]

Pack your new lunchbox and put on your corduroy shorts! It's time to get back to learnin'! This week we remember what it was like to go back to school by playing a few games and remembering the 1986 Rodney Dangerfield film. Jay and Shua lurn mor nowludge on Enjoy Stuff!

Can you Enjoy school? Sure you can! We’ll show you how to have a few laughs!

News

Now in Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge you can get a new treat called a Tenoo Swirl Cruchies Cereal. We’re not sure where the cereal part comes in, but it looks tasty.

In an effort to cool the weather, Krispy Kreme is releasing its Pumpkin Spice donuts early!

Check out our TeePublic store for some enjoyable swag and all the latest fashion trends

What we’re Enjoying

Jay has a ton of great things to say about Strange New Worlds season 2. Action, humor, great characters, and a variety of fantastic stories. With the second season just ending, it’s a good time to get caught up. Shua has been reading some fun comic books featuring the Mistress of the Dark herself, Elvira. Elvira in Monsterland finds our heroine zapping through a variety of classic movies in order to stop Vlad the Impaler from his nefarious plans. 

Enjoy School! 

You may not be ready to say goodbye to summer, but that’s not going to stop that school bell from ringing. This week we discuss the enjoyable nuances of getting an education. First we revisit the 1986 Rodney Dangerfield comedy Back to School. Dangerfield is Thornton Melon, a rich businessman and father to a struggling college freshman. In order to convince him to stay in school, Melon decides to join him and get the degree he avoided all while rowdy comedy ensues. It also has a ton of other recognizable performers such as Sally Kellerman, Burt Young, Ned Beatty, and even a young Robert Downey Jr.!

Next we prepare for the coming school year by cramming as many summer activities as possible before going school shopping for some classic supplies. Did you have a Trapper Keeper? How about a cool pop culture lunchbox?

As we begin the year, we play a few get-to-know-ya games. Can you identify Jovial Jay’s and JediShua’s lies? And then we do a little Would-you-rather, school edition. Anyone wanna show up to school naked?

And finally we try our hand at some school subjects, revealing that we may have graduated a little too soon. It’s all good fun as we begin the next chapter of our edu-ma-cation!

Did you like going back to school? Did you have a kickin’ lunch box? First person that emails me with the subject line, “My name is Mr. Hand” will get a special mention on the show.  Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]

Where were you in '62? Well, we weren't actually born. But we were in 1973 when American Graffiti, George Lucas's first major hit, premiered. This week we look back at the memories and influence of this cinematic classic on Enjoy Stuff. 

Set the wayback machine to 1962 when cruisin’ was just what you did!  We Enjoy American Graffiti!

News

Get ready to celebrate Mustard Day ‘23 with French’s Mustard Skittles!

This dude found a full Discs of TRON on the curb ready to be thrown away….really!

Check out some TRON-ified roads in Australia

Ryan Reynolds is going to bring back a retro favorite; ALF!

RIP to Pee Wee Herman himself, Paul Reubens

Check out our TeePublic store for some enjoyable swag and all the latest fashion trends

What we’re Enjoying

Shua is getting pink this week as he went to see what all the fuss was about in the Barbie movie. He was very impressed with the performances and story, but especially the message. Go Barbie! Jay took a world tour as he revisited a really retro 1956 film, Around the World in 80 Days with Cantinflas and David Niven. A totally fun, early, adventure film that became an epic. 

MCU Location Scout

Jay is back at work scouting MCU filming locations for the Disney+ series Marvel’s Secret Invasion. Whether you liked the series or not, it’s the perfect opportunity for you to explore Jay’s interactive map on MCULocationScout.com. And don’t forget to tune in to SHIELD: Case Files where Jay and Shua breakdown each episode of the series.  

Enjoy Movies! 

A young George Lucas was talking to his friend Francis one day, when Francis says to him, “Georgie, THX-1138 was great, but so heavy. You should make a fluff piece now. You know, something upbeat.”  George wasn’t really in the mood, but he didn’t have any other ideas. 

So he found some money from a movie company and flushed it down the toilet. Then he figured out how to get it made for almost nothing, using his friends and guerilla filmmaking. It starred a bunch of young people that nobody had ever heard of and would probably never hear from again. Names like Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, and Harrison Ford. 

It was based on George’s teenage years and his love for cars and that time he rolled his car racing Indiana Jones. (or something like that)  But it turns out that it really influenced movies long into the future and even changed the way some were made. Not only that, but it made enough money for George to someday make the next big movie he really wanted to make, Howard the Duck.

Have you seen American Graffiti? What did you do to spend your time as a teenager? First person that emails me with the subject line, “Howl for the Wolfman!” will get a special mention on the show.  Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]

Sometimes you just gotta say, "What the fork?" ...or something like that. Forty years ago Tom Cruise starred in this coming of age story that set him up for superstardom. The story stood out from your typical teen movie of the time. This week Jay and Shua look back at how to Enjoy a little Risky Business. 

Enjoy Stuff looks back at Risky Business on it’s 40th anniversary

News

An auction of vintage Disney parks memorabilia acquired a lot of money

Lunar Lander is a classic Atari game from the early days of arcades. Now it’s being revived

Cap’n Crunch is finally getting an accurate uniform with his latest update

IDW comics is set to release a Star Trek Lower Decks Choose Your Own Adventure comic

Paint your nails with Froot Loops! Well, the ELF Froot Loops polish

Check out our TeePublic store for some enjoyable swag and all the latest fashion trends

What we’re Enjoying

Jay found John Boyega almost unrecognizable in the bizarre sci-fi Netflix film They Cloned Tyrone. Boyega plays a street-wise drug dealer that stumbles onto a government conspiracy of scientific experiments on the black population in the neighborhood. Shua just got back from Disney World. His family powered through all four parks and hit a ton of rides. But he chickened out on the important ones. 

Enjoy Movies! 

Paul Brickman wrote and directed the 1983 movie Risky Business. It looked like your typical teen sex comedy of the time, but the way he crafted it turned into something unique. Tom Cruise plays Joel Goodson, a high school senior who is left home alone when his controlling parents leave town for a week. His responsibility? Keep his upper-class, fancy home and his dad’s Porsche in perfect order while working hard on school and trying to get into Harvard. 

Sounds like something any teen could handle. Yeah,...right. Peer pressure and hormones push him to get a little crazy and order a call girl. Eventually this leads him to running his own brothel in his parents’ home. When Guido the killer pimp gets his revenge by stealing everything in the house including his mother’s precious crystal egg, Joel has to use all the money he made and buy it all back before his parents get home. 

We’ll break down some of the themes and why this movie worked and actually stands up to time. 

Have you seen Risky Business? Did you use your parents’ house for creative purposes when they left town? First person that emails me with the subject line, “What the fudge” will get a special mention on the show.  Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]

Midnight Run was released 35 years ago. This hilarious movie stars Robert DeNiro as a disgruntled bounty hunter and Charles Grodin as an accountant wanted by the mob and the FBI. They are an unlikely pair of heroes that we grow to love as they make their way across the country.

Jay and Shua look back at this classic on a special Lite episode of Enjoy Stuff.  

Check out our TeePublic store for some enjoyable swag and all the latest fashion trends

Join our midnight runaround. First person that emails me with the subject line, “Moscone Bail Bonds” will get a special mention on the show.  Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]

We truly appreciate all you Earbuds who have hopped on board and joined us for our next chapter! Join in the fun by reaching out to us! And make sure to Share and Enjoy with all your friends!

Share and enjoy!

Adventure! Excitement! A Jedi may not crave these things, but we sure do! What is your Star Wars excitement meter measuring these days? For us, it's a little low, but we want it higher. What has made our interest wane? How could we spark that energy again? We talk about how to Enjoy Star Wars and what it means in our lives on Enjoy Stuff.

Come along and see what gets people excited about the galaxy far, far away and whether it still happens today. 

News

The new trailer for Wonka gave us a peek at the origins of our favorite chocolate maker

Apparently the Back to the Future musical is a hit

You can now buy Super MariO-reos

We have a follow up to the OK Go and Post lawsuit

New themed hotel with a Hot Wheels racetrack is opening in Arizona 

Cinderella Getting 4k "Ultimate Restoration" on Disney+

Check out our TeePublic store for some enjoyable swag and all the latest fashion trends

What we’re Enjoying

Jay got a chance to see a showing of Jaws at the Warehouse Cinema. Seeing it on the big screen is a totally different experience. Have you seen any classic movies in a theater lately? Shua has been watching the Adventures of Young Indiana Jones on Disney+. While they may not have the wild adventure of the movies, it’s some great storytelling and interesting origins of some of Indy’s personality. 

Enjoy Star Wars! 

There’s no doubt that Star Wars has been an influential ‘force’ in our lives. For 46 years there have been times that the excitement has been so overwhelming it might be confused for a religious experience. 

There’s also no doubt that we are getting older. But does that explain why we may not be getting those feelings as strongly anymore? Or is there something else that is affecting our fandom? 

The answer isn’t simple to explain or even understand, but can a couple of long-time super-fans regain a little of that elation about our heroes? This week we look at some ways to reignite the excitement of anything that you’re looking to get back to. Join us on a thought experiment to return to our roots and learn to Enjoy Star Wars. 

Where is your Star Wars fandom? Can it feel the way it used to feel? First person that emails me with the subject line, “That is why you fail” will get a special mention on the show.  Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]

Celebrate Shua's birthday by looking back at some of the favorite toys he received as gifts. It's a goofy celebration of retro goodness on Enjoy Stuff!

What toys do you remember the most? This week, in honor of Shua’s birthday, we look back on some of the memorable ones that he was given as gifts. It’s a birthday toy extravaganza!

News

The Chairman of Disney Parks, Josh D’Amaro, says that something will for sure happen with the Star Wars Galactic Star Cruiser once its final journey has occurred

You can now buy the house where Charles Shulz’s drew many Peanuts cartoons

Are you ready for Pineapple flavored Pepsi?

Don’t forget to celebrate National Nude Day this Friday! 

Check out our TeePublic store for some enjoyable swag and all the latest fashion trends

What we’re Enjoying

Shua really enjoyed Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. It had tons of fun, classic Indy action. He absolutely recommends it. Jay has been on a road trip that included Jekyll Island, Skidaway Island, and Honeymoon Island. Gorgeous places, but don’t forget the bug spray. 

Enjoy Toys! 

When you’re a kid, getting your birthday presents is one of the most exciting parts of your special day. As you get older, you start to realize that there are more important things in life. But you are still left with those special memories of the happiness you felt when you opened that amazing toy. 

Shua shares some of the awesome things that made him squeal with glee. Many of them he still has today to remind him how great birthdays were when you’re a kid. 

And check out these fun home movies that Shua made when he was a kid, using his toys as the main characters. This and more on our YouTube channel. [Shua’s Home Movies]

Did you have special toys that you got for your birthdays? Do you remember Suckerman? First person that emails me with the subject line, “You say it’s your birthday!” will get a special mention on the show.  Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]

Adventure awaits in the realm of Dungeons & Dragons! Long-time friend Mike Witwer shares the 4 books he has written for 2023. Special guest shazbazzar joins in on the fun and fantasy of D&D!

Michael Witwer and shazbazzar join us on Enjoy Stuff as we talk about Dungeons & Dragons movies, vintage products, and the four amazing books Mike has for fans of fantasy this year. 

News

Will we be able to finally see the long-awaited sequel to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids starring Rick Moranis? Josh Gad says we can with a little help from you!

We have a new Superman and Lois! 

Check out our TeePublic store for some enjoyable swag and all the latest fashion trends

What we’re Enjoying

Jay took the plunge into the series Orphan Black. The Canadian series explores the ethics of cloning, in a dramatic setting of course. Shua listened to an Audible original story called Space: 1969 set in an alternate reality where John F Kennedy survived and pushed space exploration to the extreme. Narrated by Richard Nixon (Yes, that’s what I said) this comedy starring Natasha Lyonne was like nothing Shua expected. 

MCU Location Scout

Jay is back at work scouting MCU filming locations. This time he’s focusing on the newest Disney+ series Marvel’s Secret Invasion. An espionage series set in places all over the world is the perfect opportunity for you to explore Jay’s interactive map on MCULocationScout.com. And don’t forget to tune in to SHIELD: Case Files where Jay and Shua breakdown each episode of the series.  

Enjoy Dungeons & Dragons! 

Michael Witwer has become the foremost authority on Dungeons & Dragons art and information books. Earlier this year he released Dungeons & Dragons: The Legend of Drizzt Visual Dictionary, and he has 3 more books coming out soon. 

First we discuss the recent D&D movie starring Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez, plus the other movies as well. Then we get into some of the vintage products that came out when we were growing up. 

And finally we go over all the great books coming from Mike (and others) this year. First, The Legend of Drizzt Visual Dictionary , which came out earlier this year, is a highly detailed explanation of RA Salvatore’s original character that has had so many adventures throughout the years. 

Next, Mike’s first novel arrives August 29, 2023. It’s a middle grade reader book called Vivian Van Tassel and the Secret of Midnight Lake. A story of a young girl who moves to a town with a lot of monstrous secrets. Inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, any Gen X-er and young reader will thoroughly enjoy this story. 

Coming October 3, 2023, Lore & Legends is a follow up to Art & Arcana and a beautiful celebration of the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons. 

And finally, the follow up to Heroes’ Feast: The Official D&D Cookbook that will be out November 7, 2023; Heroes’ Feast - Flavors of the Multiverse. Just in time for your Thanksgiving feast!

What kind of Dungeons & Dragons character are you? Did you have any of the vintage D&D products? First person that emails me with the subject line, “I am Dungeon Master” will get a special mention on the show.  Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]

It's time to celebrate Canada Day! July 1 marks a big, national celebration for our neighbors to the north, so Jay and Shua remind us 'mericans about some famous celebrities who have called Canada their home and share some interesting facts along the way. It's time to Enjoy Stuff, eh!

Oh, Canada! We love our upstairs neighbors but sometimes we tend to have the wrong ideas about the second largest nation. Hopefully the boys can clear up a few misconceptions about a beautiful country with some rich history. 

News

Disney+ will be releasing a collection of restored, classic cartoon shorts

We love the artistry and talent of Stephen Richter’s 3D sculpt of Drew Struzan’s classic Indiana Jones poster

Check out our TeePublic store for some enjoyable swag and all the latest fashion trends

What we’re Enjoying

This week Shua completed his summer chores while lazy book reading The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece: a Novel by Tom Hanks. It’s a unique take on how a movie gets made, with stories of the origins of characters decades before to the fictional background of how characters got involved in the movie business. Jay is enjoying the most recent season of the Netflix hit Black Mirror. It’s a collection of wild, unexpected stories that will keep you guessing and talking. 

MCU Location Scout

Jay is back at work scouting MCU filming locations. This time he’s focusing on the newest Disney+ series Marvel’s Secret Invasion. An espionage series set in places all over the world is the perfect opportunity for you to explore Jay’s interactive map on MCULocationScout.com. And don’t forget to tune in to SHIELD: Case Files where Jay and Shua breakdown each episode of the series.  

Enjoy Canada! 

Because Canada is celebrating a national holiday this week, Enjoy Stuff wanted to show our support and friendship by sharing just how dumb Americans are when it comes to the people right next to us. We share a variety of fact about the illustrious country and a little bit of history (that is probably true, if we can trust the internet) And we talk about just a handful of the many public figures that are easily recognized by Americans, who are usually completely unaware that they came from Canada. 

And you can check out a classic TechnoRetro Dads episode where we discuss a Canadian comedy featuring our favorite hosers, Bob and Doug McKenzie (featuring the Cereal Connoisseur, Sheldon!)

https://technoretrodads.libsyn.com/take-off-with-bob-and-dougs-strange-brew 

Do you know of more famous Canadians? Are you a Canadian? First person that emails me with the subject line, “Meet me at Tim Hortons” will get a special mention on the show.  Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]