Mon Men - A Pokemon Survey

Abby Denton joins us this week to discuss Geodude, Ponyta, and Slowpoke. After facing off against a 6-0 undefeated Michael Darling in a game of Mon Mom, this week's trio discuss classic Bond films, the creepy use of CGI to keep actors alive forever, the unexpected movie trilogy that takes the crown for best of the century thus far, and (keeping up our tradition of referencing NBC classics) a lot of talk about Pokemon world Lil' Sebastian.

From the show, Alfred Molina singing Fiddler on the Roof as Doc Ock:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy_yQHN2K6g

Guest cohost Andrew Valdes jumps in the third chair this week to talk about the Machop, Bellsprout, and Tenatcool families. Veering from NBC Comedies to NBC Drama: we trade chops for slaps and talk about the cultural phenomenon that was NBC's The Slap, as well as Diedrich Bader, begging for sensei's forgiveness, Pokemon you can step on and those you'd need to wallop, as well as how capable each of today's mons are at subduing Darling (answer: super effective). Including some surprise Yoshi's Island derived parenting advice for our listeners, it's another episode of Mon Men!

From the show:

Uri Geller's Brexit Promise: https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-uri-geller/uri-geller-urges-mass-telepathy-against-brexit-idUSKCN1R50MF

Machop's viral twin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkxvlq25Kqw

Machop's real world inspiration, the Moschop:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moschops#/media/File:Moschops_capensis.jpg

Machamp's Original Red/Green sprite: https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/File:Spr_1g_068.png

The Mon Men are back with special guest, Henry Meier to discuss Growlithe, Poliwag, and Abra. We have some Pokemon News at the top of the episode that breaks Balloo's heart (Danny DeVito was tested for the voice of Detective Pikachu), and then it's off to the races (literally) discussing the Growlithe family and their absurd speed and stamina in the dex, Poliwag and its extremely odd biology, and Abra's real world counterparts and legal troubles. From a review of Now You See Me 6 years late, to Balloo's heart breaking because the Batman is not the peoples' hero, and dubbing one of today's Mons the Ron Swanson of Pokemon, it's another episode of Mon Men!

Balloo and Darling are back again and welcome guest co-host Ethan Hallstrom to the third chair to discuss Meowth, Psyduck, and Mankey. It's an episode with all the usual fun of Mon Mom, Mon's World, and Mon Appetite, but with all the usual tangents of Joe Pesci's acting career, Must See TV NBC Thursdays, Middle School Reading, and Exorcising Demons by being hashtag woke. It's the Podcast about Pokemon that's Woke-mon, welcome back to Mon Men!

Balloo and Darling are joined this week by Michael Chau to discuss the Paras, Venonat, and Diglett families. Starting with another game of Mon Mom, it's off to the races with Balloo putting his foot in his mouth on the Paras line with comparisons to a certain A List movie star, speculations of illicit applications of yet another poison Pokemon, and a lot of inappropriate jokes about Diglett and Dugtrio physiology. Welcome back to Mon Men!

From the show:

The terrifying Thomas the Tank Engine meme that'll keep you awake:

https://boingboing.net/2017/07/03/the-true-form-of-thomas-the-ta.html 

The Dugtrio meme that'll ruin your faith in humanity:

https://funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/206992/Dugtrio/

 Outro music to restore it, Carly Rae Jepsen x Nine Inch Nails - Call me a Hole: 

https://youtu.be/WC1ei5RlK7E

Balloo and Darling are here for a Pokemon Day special, breaking news reaction episode to the announcement and first trailer for Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield on the Nintendo Switch! We kick it off with a game of Mon Mom for the starters announced today: Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble. Darling and Balloo trade predictions and wishes based on the England inspired location, folklore, and history, and then close off with a starter announcement game of Mon Appetite. It's a special breaking news edition of Mon Men!

From the show, the Cerne Abbas Giant: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerne_Abbas_Giant

Balloo & Mr. Darling are back, this week they're joined by guest, Kevin Koeser to discuss the Vulpix, Jigglypuff, Zubat, and Oddish families. Starting with another game of Mon Mom, this week's conversations touches on an icon in the furry community, Marxist Mario, Japanese folklore, Nintendo kinks (wherein we confirm that we are the podcast that does not kink shame), and even trans rights events- and that's all before we even get to Mon Mods, Mon's World, or Mon Appetite. Welcome back to our biweekly podcast and this week's edition of Mon Men!

From the show:

If you're curious about Bowsette, there's an honest to god wikipedia page devoted to her, and it's the safest link we can share about her - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowsette 

Balloo and Darling are back once more, this time with their first guest in the rotating third seat: Brett Fujioka. Discussions of the Nidoran families finally bring up the Pepsi to Pokemon's Coke: Digimon and the difference between world building and narrative building, and some hypothesizing about the way Pokemon would have gone if the original plan for Clefairy to be the face of the franchise had gone through. Mon Mods, Mon's World, and finally another Mon Appetit bring us home, it's Mon Men!

From the show: check out the animal inspiration for the Nidoran, the Hyrax - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyrax

Balloo and Darling return for a bonus episode tackling some of their favorite parental fan theories concerning Red and Ash's potential fathers, human-pokemon hybrids, and a pet theory on who the biggest ladies man in the Pokemon universe is. Short and sweet, we'll be back next week with a full episode.

Balloo and Darling are back, this week to take on the face of the franchise: Pikachu. This week, we Introduce a new recurring segment, Mon Mom with Balloo's own mother to start things off. Darling shares some news from the world of London fashion, and the pair discuss Pikachu's design, cultural impact,  and similarities to The Wire, as well as a little bit of New York history, and a sneaky twist on this week's Mon Apetite. It's another episode of Mon Men!