Fuel Your Fandom

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If you're reading this, chances are you grew up with cartoons. We all grabbed a bowl of Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs on Saturday mornings, and sat cross-legged in front of our family TVs as kids to watch generation-defining 'toons — ranging from Bugs Bunny to My Little Pony to He-Man. But at some point, "cartoons" crossed a tipping point and became "animation." The Flintstones, The Smurfs and Scooby-Doo evolved into South Park, Ren & Stimpy and The Simpsons. And just like that, cartoons weren't just for kids anymore. So to what do we attribute the staying power of animation? Is it nostalgia? Is it that we embrace our entertainment growing along with us? How did we get from Steamboat Willie to Pickle Rick? Pop this particularly wide-ranging edition of FYF into your earholes, and kick it around with the boys. 

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Hey, have you ever seen a movie? If you're reading this, it's safe to say you probably have. So you know what a movie star is: those are the above-the-title, big-time A-listers who can pack butts into seats on opening weekend. But most movies only have one protagonist or hero. So what do you do when you need to fill the role of "Police Chief", "English Teacher" or "Scientist #2"? Well...you call a That Guy.  That Guys are those awesome supporting character actors who flesh out a cast with talent and range; actors you've seen countless times before, but who aren't exactly household names. You know them. You love them. You just can't PLACE them. So on this episode, Saint and Jim give these incredible "Hey, it's THAT GUY!" performers some overdue love.  

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Hey, do you eat food? If so, then this episode of FYF just might be for you. However, if you're not an ADVENTUROUS eater? If you have a traditional tongue, or a persnickety palate? Then prepare to have your mind (and taste buds) well and truly expanded. Because on this edition of the show, Saint and Jim are discussing food fads — those equal parts trendy and tasty goodies that are just as fresh imagination-wise as they are fresh out of the oven. We're talking innovative ingestibles like Sliders. Cronuts. Edible foams, creative cookies and crazy concoctions. Some took off, and made the great American plate. Others were literal flashes in the pan. But they all stretched the boundaries of the menu, and reminded us that food can be fun as well as fandom. So dig in.   

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TVTropes.com defines a trope as, "a storytelling device a creator can assume is already present in the mind of the audience without needing to be explained." In other words, not a cliché, but more a narrative precept we've already seen before, and intrinsically understand the meaning of. Still, while it's a slightly sticky thing to define, it's an immediate thing to understand. In this episode, Saint and Jim spend some time kicking around their favorite tropes from modern entertainment. They're joined by astronomer, astrophysicist, and friend of fandom Dr. Robert Morehead, who kindly brings a truly universal perspective to an idea that's well beneath his education level. So give us your earholes...we want 'em.

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We all know this to be true whether we realize it consciously, or not: our sense of smell is the one of the core five most closely tied to our memory. If we pick up a particularly evocative scent (especially if it's been awhile), we're immediately transported to the last time we detected it. The reasons for this are complex biologically, but regardless — nothing has quite the power to produce nostalgia like a unique aroma, especially one from childhood. On this edition of FYF, Saint and Jim break down some of the weirdest, wildest and most wonderful smells that they (and others) can remember as being tied to specific memories, and encourage you to recall the same. Plus: all the news that's fit to nerd. 

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English is a bizarre language; a savory stew of compound words, random spellings, garbled grammar and even terms borrowed from other tongues. But perhaps no aspect of English is odder than the idiom. In essence, an idiom is a universally understood phrase that refers to something else, often using language entirely unrelated to the thing itself. But once heard, it’s rarely forgotten. Think, “He’s holding all the cards,” “The cat got her tongue” or “By hook or by crook.” We all know what they mean. But WHY do they mean what they mean? On this episode, Saint and Jim look at the origins of these idiosyncratic idioms so that by and large, we can all go the whole nine yards and get our ducks in a row.     

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Couple of heavy topics the last few weeks, huh? Well, as promised, Saint and Jim keep things a little bit lighter this week by playing one of the internet's favorite games. And it's a two-parter: 
1.) Keep one human actor, and recast the rest of the movie with Muppets, or...
2.) Replace one human actor with a muppet, and keep the rest of the cast. 
One of the reasons the Muppets are so beloved is because there's one for every role. And not just in the Muppet-verse, but EVERY role. So if you've ever thought Kermit would make a great Superman, or Miss Piggy would make a fantastic Ellen Ripley, you're not alone. So join the boys as they fall down the rabbit hole of speculating on which Muppets (or entire casts of them) could reliably step in for John Wick, Captain Kirk, The Wizard of Oz, and countless others. Waka-waka-waka!

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Nostalgia is a funny thing sometimes. If we get the idea to re-read our favorite book, re-play a beloved video game, or re-watch our comfort movie, we can usually manage that. But what if the thing you want to revisit is a place...and it doesn't exist anymore? What if you want to, say, browse the shelves at Blockbuster? Dig into some fried ice cream at Chi-Chi's? Head to Sears and pick up a set of Craftsman sockets? You can't. Because those places simply aren't around anymore. In this episode of FYF, Saint and Jim take a look into some of the long-gone stores and restaurants they used to visit during their misspent Gen-X youth, and wish they could stop into again. Chances are, you would, too. Did your favorite spot make the list?  

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In the third and final installment of the Trilogy of Fail mini-series, Saint and Jim take a look at technological fails. These are hyped, touted and in some cases even anticipated tech products; products that were conceived, researched, prototyped, produced, marketed and sold...but that nonetheless made about as much impact as a wet fart in a windstorm. Among them: audio players absolutely nobody wanted, transportation devices that became punchlines, "Who is this for?!?" computer peripherals, and even undeniable missteps that faded fast, but still left equally miserable legacies — like terrible typefaces and TSA overreach. Will your (least) favorite tech flop make the list? Only one way to find out. Just realize that there's a reason this is particular format is called a "Podcast" and not a "Zunecast", and you've got a decent head start. 

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Following their initial installment in this mini-series (famous film failures), Saint and Jim are moving on to the next step. Namely, legendary flops from the world of interactive entertainment. According to Wikipedia, 10% of published video games generated 90% of the industry's revenue. Meaning that for every one game that's a success, there are ten others in line behind it that don't even earn their budget back. Sure, there are still massive mega-hits like whatever the latest "Grand Theft Auto" or "Call of Duty" title might be. But countless games still fall flat on their face right out of the gate. And some fall so fast and so hard that they wind up buried under a few tons of sand in a landfill. Literally. So join the boys on this rundown of reek to sift through the rubble, and remember the digital disasters that ate dirt right from the jump.