NEPA Scene

George isn’t with us for Episode 6, so we talk about him (all good things, we promise) with our special guest, Matt Dapkins of Massive Beer Reviews, drink some highly sought-after “whales” like Heady Topper by The Alchemist, Pliny the Elder by Russian River Brewing Company, and Hop Crisis by 21st Amendment Brewery, and explain why they’re so coveted. We discuss the collector mentality versus fans just looking to enjoy their hobby, the amusing origins of Billy Beer, character development in shows like “The Walking Dead” and “Dexter” and the acting career of Michael C. Hall, vinyl record collecting, grown men playing with toys, old phone pranks, customer stories from working at a tattoo shop in downtown Scranton, growing up with Monty Python and the effect of British humor, getting into punk rock music, how technology has changed through the generations and the mounting pressures and distractions associated with it, and good beer in cans.

Derek Warren’s popular How to Pair Beer with Everything column on nepascene.com is now a podcast! Joined by NEPA Scene founder and editor Rich Howells and beer enthusiast George Zvirblis, they’ll try a different brew each week and examine it through all the senses, diving into personal experiences and opinions, pop culture, news, or whatever comes to mind. While Derek is an experienced beer reviewer and aficionado (and co-host of the Beer Geeks Radio Hour on WILK 103.1 FM), Rich is more of a casual craft beer drinker (and co-host of the NEPA Scene Podcast), so they’ll both offer their own uncensored perspectives and ask guests to share their own.

Every episode is available on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and nepascene.com.

In Episode 33, we discuss the brand new monthly girls-only performance night for local comedians, poets, and musicians in downtown Scranton with event creator Jess Meoni and poet Alicia Kulick. Meoni, who also founded the Scranton Zine Fest and Ruthless Zine, talks about why she started the GRRRLS Night open mic, the need to spotlight female artists, and sexual harassment in the scene, which leads to a conversation about how women on any public stage are perceived; the different types of feminism and the connotation of that term today; sexism, racism, and hashtag activism; and some history behind zines and the feminist punk riot grrrl movement, which the event’s name is derived from. We also get into Meoni and Kulick’s writing and how GRRRLS Night is already garnering praise and controversy from the community.

In The Last Word segment, we read a few readers’ comments about GRRRLS Night and address why an all-male event isn’t quite as necessary as an all-female night.

Professionally recorded every Monday at The Stude in TwentyFiveEight Studios in Scranton and released exclusively on nepascene.com every Tuesday, the NEPA Scene Podcast is a free supplement to the website, expanding on the arts and entertainment stories covered on the site and going beyond them to discuss other news and entertainment topics.

Each week, the unedited and uncensored podcast features Rich Howells, NEPA Scene founder and editor; Mark Dennebaum, president and owner of TwentyFiveEight Studios; and Lauren Quirolgico, commercial and content strategist at Lavelle Strategy Group and editor at TwentyFiveEight. Every episode streams on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and nepascene.com.

In Episode 5, we welcome our longtime guest and beer enthusiast George Zvirblis on as a regular co-host as we sample Petit Rouge by Heretic Brewing Company and Blasphemy by Weyerbacher Brewing Company. We talk about how Heretic became a homebrewing legend, subtle versus overwhelming flavors, Marvel’s new movie “Ant-Man” and respecting source material in adaptations while treading new creative ground, American remakes of Japanese horror films in the early 2000s, “The Tingler” and gimmicks to sell movies, what makes a cult classic and how they cannot be created on purpose, the incomprehensible disaster that is “The Trouble with Cali,” the upcoming “Ash vs. Evil Dead” TV show, actors and directors dealing with or accepting the B-list, the comedy gold of “Human Giant,” and more. We also make some bad jokes and bring up religion and thinking for yourself as we consider the theme of both beer names this week.

Derek Warren’s popular How to Pair Beer with Everything column on nepascene.com is now a podcast! Joined by NEPA Scene founder and editor Rich Howells, they’ll try a different brew each week and examine it through all the senses, diving into personal experiences and opinions, pop culture, news, or whatever comes to mind. While Derek is an experienced beer reviewer and aficionado (and co-host of the Beer Geeks Radio Hour on WILK 103.1 FM), Rich is more of a casual craft beer drinker (and co-host of the NEPA Scene Podcast), so they’ll both offer their own uncensored perspectives and ask guests to share their own.

Every episode is available on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and nepascene.com.

Joined again by our friend from Dunmore and beer enthusiast George Zvirblis, we have the pleasure of sampling some unique and sought-after beers this week – the Stone Brewing Company collaboration w00tstout 3.0 and Calm Before the Storm by Ballast Point Brewing Company. These are very different beers with very different flavors, so first we describe the origins of w00tstout, which was made with the help of Fark.com creator Drew Curtis and actor/blogger Wil Wheaton, and this inevitably leads into a discussion on the popularization of nerd culture and where it’s headed next. We also talk about Sylvester Stallone; how the Columbine High School shooting changed the way the public and the media looks at kids who are different; movies that influenced kids to do dumb things; lawsuits; “16 and Pregnant;” failed knockoff kids shows and franchises; how merchandising, product tie-ins, and collecting have changed over the years; Netflix’s “The Fall” versus “Dexter;” all the movie trailers and leaked videos that came out of San Diego Comic-Con; and how reviews can skew public opinion before people try something themselves.

Derek Warren’s popular How to Pair Beer with Everything column on nepascene.com is now a podcast! Joined by NEPA Scene founder and editor Rich Howells, they’ll try a different brew each week and examine it through all the senses, diving into personal experiences and opinions, pop culture, news, or whatever comes to mind. While Derek is an experienced beer reviewer and aficionado (and co-host of the Beer Geeks Radio Hour on WILK 103.1 FM), Rich is more of a casual craft beer drinker (and co-host of the NEPA Scene Podcast), so they’ll both offer their own uncensored perspectives and ask guests to share their own.

Every episode is available on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and nepascene.com.

After the first local screenings of director Paul Sorvino's "The Trouble with Cali" were held last week at the Scranton Cultural Center, we asked award-winning filmmaker John Mikulak and film critic/columnist Jeff Boam to join us in Episode 32 to review and talk in-depth about the controversial film. We begin with a brief history of how the indie movie was funded using Lackawanna County taxpayer dollars and all the drama that followed before attempting to describe the bewildering "plot" and our respective reactions to it. We all agree that the script, acting, editing, and directing are all awful, yet we also find that it’s so bad it’s good, so we explain why there’s a lot to love about this commercial and critical failure, noting its many unintentionally funny moments and comparing it to other cult classics like “The Room,” “Birdemic,” “Troll 2,” and B-movies by Ed Wood. We also get into Mikulak’s films and how his documentary “The Man Who Would Be Polka King” may become a feature film starring Jack Black.

In The Last Word segment, we read reactions to NEPA Scene’s review of "The Trouble with Cali" and our suggestion to hold annual public screenings in the area.

Read our detailed movie review: http://nepascene.com/2015/07/movie-review-trouble-with-cali-awful-people-say-why-should-see-it/

NOTE: At 56 minutes in, we enter spoiler territory with fair warning that reveals the ending and a shocking scene that we believe should not have been included in the final film. If you do not want to know the ending of the movie, you can pick it back up at 70:30.

Professionally recorded every Monday at The Stude in TwentyFiveEight Studios in Scranton and released exclusively on nepascene.com every Tuesday, the NEPA Scene Podcast is a free supplement to the website, expanding on the arts and entertainment stories covered on the site and going beyond them to discuss other news and entertainment topics.

Each week, the unedited and uncensored podcast features Rich Howells, NEPA Scene founder and editor; Mark Dennebaum, president and owner of TwentyFiveEight Studios; and Lauren Quirolgico, commercial and content strategist at Lavelle Strategy Group and editor at TwentyFiveEight. Every episode streams on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and nepascene.com.

In Episode 3, our friend from Dunmore and beer enthusiast George Zvirblis returns as our guest as we try Stone Ruination Double IPA 2.0 and HiFi+LoFi Mixtape by Stone Brewing Company, noting Stone’s marketing of the former and the odd but multifaceted taste of the latter. Derek and Rich recall how Stone’s Arrogant Bastard Ale got them interested in craft beer and their very different reactions to it, and they talk about horror TV shows like “Masters of Horror” and “Fear Itself,” the “cat pee” smell of some IPAs, changing trends in punk and metal music through the decades, how no one should really have to apologize for their taste in music, local venues and shows they attended when they were younger, how the Internet went from message boards and Myspace to Facebook, interviews by Howard Stern, the 20th anniversary of “Hackers,” obscure films like “Solarbabies” and why old sci-fi films do or do not hold up, how horror fans are keeping DVDs and Blu-rays alive in an increasingly digital world, old video game magazines like Nintendo Power and GamePro, teachers who were dicks to us who would never get away with it today, and much more!

Derek Warren’s popular How to Pair Beer with Everything column on nepascene.com is now a podcast! Joined by NEPA Scene founder and editor Rich Howells, they’ll try a different brew each week and examine it through all the senses, diving into personal experiences and opinions, pop culture, news, or whatever comes to mind. While Derek is an experienced beer reviewer and aficionado (and co-host of the Beer Geeks Radio Hour on WILK 103.1 FM), Rich is more of a casual craft beer drinker (and co-host of the NEPA Scene Podcast), so they’ll both offer their own uncensored perspectives and ask guests to share their own.

Every episode is available on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and nepascene.com.

This week, you have the pleasure of listening to me debate (with myself) whether art is something that requires inspiration or if it's something you can force out. I make some bad analogies and worry that I won't understand hologram technology when I'm an old man.

Drunk Illustration Tuesday is a weekly column/podcast on nepascene.com featuring the distinctive work and alcohol-fueled musings of Scranton artist Brendan Howells, who currently resides in Japan.

Derek Warren’s popular How to Pair Beer with Everything column on nepascene.com is now a podcast! Joined by NEPA Scene founder and editor Rich Howells, they’ll try a different brew each week and examine it through all the senses, diving into personal experiences and opinions, pop culture, news, or whatever comes to mind. While Derek is an experienced beer reviewer and aficionado (and co-host of the Beer Geeks Radio Hour on WILK 103.1 FM), Rich is more of a casual craft beer drinker (and co-host of the NEPA Scene Podcast), so they’ll both offer their own uncensored perspectives and ask guests to share their own.

Every episode is available on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and nepascene.com.

In Episode 2, we welcome our first guest, George Zvirblis, a beer enthusiast from Dunmore who has traveled coast to coast to try beers of all kinds. As we sample Hop Stoopid Ale by Lagunitas Brewing Company, we reminisce about the days we all worked at Blockbuster Video and messed with customers, dealt with late fees, and watched changing policies spell the end of the business. We talk about fast food mascots like Colonel Sanders and Darrell Hammond’s creepy take on him, Budweiser’s change of heart regarding craft beers and marketing, open-ended movies and the push for franchises, the cancellation of “Hannibal” on NBC, people getting offended by everything they see on the Internet, Garfield’s forgotten dark period, the early days of the Internet, comedians and what happened to Dane Cook, collecting as kids and adults, and much more! We wrap up by drinking Black is the New Wit by Terrapin Beer Company and New Belgium Brewing Company and noting how many beer names are taken from pop culture and how brewers must avoid infringing on copyrights, including a local example involving “Star Wars.”

http://nepascene.com/2015/07/how-pair-beer-everything-podcast-episode-2-hop-stoopid-ale-lagunitas-brewing-company/

The weekly column is now a podcast!

Since NEPA Scene launched to the public in September, the How to Pair Beer with Everything column has been a staple of the website, putting an entertaining and tongue-in-cheek twist on the typical beer review. Every Thursday, Derek Warren suggests the ideal setting, music, movies, and books to create the perfect experience with a delicious craft beer, and now he’ll expand upon that idea with NEPA Scene founder and editor Rich Howells during the podcast of the same name.

With a beer being the only conversation starter needed, they’ll try a different brew each week and examine it through all the senses, diving into personal experiences and opinions, pop culture, news, or whatever comes to mind. While Derek is an experienced beer reviewer and aficionado (and co-host of the Beer Geeks Radio Hour on WILK 103.1 FM), Rich is more of a casual craft beer drinker (and co-host of the NEPA Scene Podcast), so they’ll both offer their own uncensored perspectives and welcome guests to share their own in future episodes.

Every episode will stream on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and nepascene.com.

In this inaugural episode, we sample Blackbeard’s Breakfast by Heavy Seas Beer, a bourbon barrel-aged porter brewed with coffee, and discuss movies that scared us as kids, the unnecessary sanitizing of modern kids’ films and shows, how horror films focus on jump scares now over truly memorable scenes, the decline in quality of director Dario Argento’s films, wearing nostalgia glasses, the evolution of nerd culture in our lifetimes and the breakdown of counterculture, Internet critics who nitpick everything, being introduced to craft beers, and much more!

http://nepascene.com/2015/06/how-pair-beer-everything-podcast-episode-1-blackbeards-breakfast-heavy-seas-beer/

Leslie Worrell Christianson, MLIS, assistant professor and user services librarian at Marywood University, and Jeremy McGinniss, MLIS, library director at Summit University, bring their vast knowledge of libraries and this institution's continued importance in the Digital Age in Episode 30. We discuss librarian stereotypes, building personal relationships with patrons, how the Internet and libraries can work together, creative copyright laws, digital literacy, research and open access, makerspace and hands-on learning, the expense of information, developing a library’s collection, crazy library stories involving squirrels and naked guys, patrons versus customers, and promoting lifelong learning.

In The Last Word segment, we talk about all the positive feedback we’ve received about a recent profile story we posted and our new weekly column on local LGBT issues. Northeastern Pennsylvania is often characterized as close-minded, but the column, Living Your Truth, was quickly embraced by readers who want to hear about these issues from the perspective of a transgender woman. This also leads to a general conversation about Caitlyn Jenner and Rachel Dolezal.

See the hosts of the NEPA Scene Podcast introduce the performers live at the NEPA Scene’s Got Talent Finals Showcase tonight, June 23 at Thirst T’s Bar & Grill in Olyphant, starting at 7 p.m.! Get the details here: http://nepascene.com/2015/06/video-nepa-scenes-got-talent-finals-showcase-promo-features-12-acts-reveals-judges/

Professionally recorded every Monday at The Stude in TwentyFiveEight Studios in Scranton and released exclusively on nepascene.com every Tuesday, the NEPA Scene Podcast is a free supplement to the website, expanding on the arts and entertainment stories covered on the site and going beyond them to discuss other news and entertainment topics.

Each week, the unedited and uncensored podcast features Rich Howells, NEPA Scene founder and editor; Mark Dennebaum, president and owner of TwentyFiveEight Studios; Lauren Quirolgico, commercial and content strategist at Lavelle Strategy Group and editor at TwentyFiveEight; and in the control room, Jimmy Reynolds, a musician, teacher, and lead audio engineer at TwentyFiveEight. Every episode streams on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and nepascene.com.