Not The Worst Comedy Podcast

I decided to make a short podcast update to cap off the month of March, since I felt bad going all month without another episode. I might have had something else on my mind, though...

 

I'll just leave these here:

New Century RSS feed - http://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/feed/

Digital Drift official website - http://www.digitaldrift.co.uk/

In the summer of 2014, I started kicking around ideas for a podcast. It was going to be a lot more long-form discussion and casual debate and less short segments of me being a know-it-all. This is one such discussion that I recorded for the planned pilot episode about humor.

As the title states, this episode features my friends Sam, Kester, and Mark. Originally recorded June 2014, the discussion meanders off topic a lot, and the audio quality will leave a lot to be desired even after some cleanup, but I thought it was interesting and funny enough to be worth sharing now.

Timestamps of note:

00:00 - My rambling intro

04:35 - A Discussion on Humor (Sort of)

This was only the second of three segments for the long-form humor episode. You can look forward to hearing the remaining two segments, which are my monologue and the conversation with Jess, starting in April. The length of this one has kind of forced me onto hiatus until then. Hey, I deserve a vacation anyway.

(If you're listening Mark, I was totally kidding. You were a valuable addition to the discussion)

(Transition music again from Swing on This by Alice in Chains)

Since I can't seem to shut up about vaccines, I decided to do a whole episode on the subject, and provide a little context for why I feel the way I do. I kept this episode clean to encourage more people to listen. I hope someone finds it enjoyable or informative in some way.

The post being read partway through is by Darryl Cunningham. You can read it for yourself here, and see the sources he has cited here.

Timestamps of note:

00:40 - The perspective from the other side

02:52 - My opening comments

08:35 - The Facts in the Case of Dr. Andrew Wakefield - by Darryl Cunningham

15:15 - More of My Perspective

18:48 - Parting Thoughts, Podcast Updates

23:48 - Trailer for New Century: Secret Rooms

25:35 - Outtakes

 

Transition music for this episode is from the song Swing on This by Alice in Chains. Go buy something of theirs.

If you thought this sounded like a mess to start with, wait until you hear what didn't make the cut. Just under four minutes of me trying desperately to talk like a normal person.

(The clip in the middle is from a series of outtakes from the Lionhead Studios game Black and White. The characters are voiced by Marc Silk. You can listen to a compilation of all the outtakes on youtube)

There's no introduction/backing music this week, and no I didn't receive a takedown notice from Danny Baranowsky's lawyer (yet). I made a conscious decision to rely less on music here, at least for the immediate future, and in this episode I try to explain why.

(And in the interest of not being "that guy", I will attempt one last time to get in contact with Mr. Baranowsky regarding non-commercial use of his work)

In the process of recording the episode I had planned for this week (and was running behind on anyway) I wanted to throw in a quick shout-out to another podcaster I'm a big fan of. What was supposed to be a short thing at the end of the episode somehow turned into yet another rant, largely centered around how Apple is awful. The only reason this isn't even longer is because I accidentally hit the stop button in the middle of ranting. Rather than start up again, I decided to cut out while I'm still young.

(Contrary to what I said in the cast, I did wind up editing this a bit. Your ears will thank me)

For those who are interested, here are some links to Alex Shaw's work:

Digital Drift official website - http://www.digitaldrift.co.uk/

New Century RSS feed - http://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/feed/

The DD/New Century Patreon page - https://www.patreon.com/alexandershaw

 

Intro/outtro music composed by Danny Baranowsky. Visit http://dbsoundworks.bandcamp.com for more.

It's January 14th and this is only my first episode posted this year, which leaves me wondering why I had a random spike in downloads this week. Who are you people and why on Earth are you listening to this?

Anyway, as promised, here is my "interview" with Laszlo the Barber. I hope you enjoy it. He covers a wider range of sociophilosophical topics in 30 minutes than I have all season.

Timestamps of note:

00:00 - My Introduction

02:26 - Why The Dinosaurs Died

05:30 - The Umbilical Cord of the Universe

08:43 - The Source of Turmoil in the Middle East

10:22 - Why Religion was Born in the Middle East

13:44 - Why the Jewish People were Hated by Other Cultures

15:37 - Why the Jewish People are the Chosen People

18:12 - Why the Jewish People Left Egypt

21:32 - More About Why The Dinosaurs Died

23:49 - The Reasons for Hair Loss

24:37 - The Solution for Growing Hair

29:30 - Parting Thoughts About Laslo

 

(Backing music by Danny Baranowsky. For more of his work, visit http://dbsoundworks.bandcamp.com)

A lot of awful things happened this year, including on this podcast. Let's take a moment to look forward hopefully to the new year. In yet another off-the-cuff unscripted ramble-fest, I talk about what there is to look forward to from this podcast in 2015, apart from more obnoxious mouth noises. Among other things, we can look forward to the release of the humor discussion casts from last summer, me taking a stab at voice acting, the purchase of decent sound equipment, and of course, the awe-inspiring genius of Laslo the Barber.

Also, I may have inadvertently picked up a verbal crutch. Nevertheless...

The grand jury decided on November 24th not to indict Officer Darren Wilson. Regardless of how I feel about that personally, or any of the other events that have come to light in the weeks since then, it's important that we learn something from events like those of Ferguson, Missouri this past fall. Otherwise, we as a society will keep making the same mistakes, the racial divide will remain as wide as ever, and the pattern of violence and social inequality will continue.

Timestamps of note:

00:00 - Introductory ramblings about technology failure and avoiding talking about the news in depth

06:15 - My monologue on racial inequality and the importance of diversity

 

(Backing music once again from Danny Baranowsky. Check out his website and listen to his stuff on BandCamp)

(Transition music borrowed from an old Alice in Chains song, Swing on This. Be a doll and go buy something of theirs, won't you? The most recent studio album The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here is pretty great, in my opinion)

...Dammit, past me, stop breathing on the mic.

"For the benefit of anyone listening to this long after the fact, or anybody actively avoiding news sources because they like having a positive outlook on life and wish to preserve it, I will now go over all the facts of the shooting of Michael Brown. On August 9, 2014, an 18-year-old man Michael Brown was fatally shot by Darren Wilson, a Ferguson Police Department officer. As far as I can tell, these are the only facts anybody agrees on.

There has been a great deal of outrage, not only in media but in the streets of Ferguson, Missouri where this took place, from people who feel the shooting was a complete travesty and the height of injustice. Others argue that based on the evidence, the officer was justified in shooting his assailant, and that the outrage stems from people trying to make the whole case about race. The unarmed suspect in this case was black, and the officer was white. Thus, the powder keg was lit.

Months later, and now over a week removed from the grand jury decision not to indict Officer Wilson, I’m still not in possession of all the facts of this case. I don’t care to go searching for them either. Rather than hoping in vain to piece together a clearer picture of the reality of that night, and rather than spouting any more uninformed nonsense about this case, I want to try to shed some light on the underlying complex social issues at play here. That said, I did see fit to spout uninformed nonsense about this case way back in August when the events were still pretty recent and genuine facts were lacking, and the only news source I saw fit to trust on the matter was one mister John Oliver.

Recently, I’ve written a mostly serious commentary that I think cuts to the heart of the matter, but before I share that here, I thought this old rant would be worth sharing again for the added context it provides, both in terms of the case itself and my personal feelings on it, which have continued to evolve since this rant was recorded. This isn’t going to be nearly as serious as the subject matter likely calls for, but in cases like this I kind of need to laugh sometimes to keep from crying. So, if you’ll forgive my awful sense of humor and poor timing, here is my original rant about the terrible events this past summer in Ferguson, Missouri."

 

(Backing music for this episode was created by the wonderfully luminescent, splendidly fragrant, and superbly coniferous Danny Baranowsky, originally part of the soundtrack to The Binding of Isaac. For more of Danny Baranowsky’s work, go to his website or check him out on BandCamp)