Opinions May Vary

As I sit here staring at my phone cursing the Pokemon Go error screen I have a little time for some reflection. See, I'm a bit nervous this week as it's time for our yearly coverage of our favorite local show and I'm scared that after 4 years of coverage we're just going to sound like broken records and repeat the same stuff we said last year...or the year before. Then I remember that in 4 years of attending ConnectiCon I've literally never had the same overall experience twice. It's one of those shows that might stay in the same place, keep the same name and feature some of the same acts but it always has this incredible ability to show you something new. Super Art Fight? Rad. Love those guys and gals.  Super Art Fight with Cyanide & Happiness competing against them? A dream come true that I haven't even dreamed yet. (It was amazing. I'd show you the pictures but I can't because they don't exist. Shoulda been there!) You'll remember wayyy back in our first year I wasn't too blown away with what ConnectiCon had to offer. That's because I was an idiot and I was comparing it to every other convention I'd ever been to and expected it to be exactly the same. That's the brilliance of the show, though. It's literally NOTHING like any convention we attend throughout the year and Alex has pointed out in the past that if you go in without a plan or just expect the show to present itself for you...you might leave disappointed. But I said it and I'll say it again: Take your time. Do some research and find something that interests you. Overall I found that past years definitely left me more satisfied but as I point out in the episode...it's through no fault of ConnectiCon. I'm just greedy and I wanted more. More time, more money, more pictures. I was borderline insatiable and just wanted to consume the show in it's entirety (Side Note: That's the creepiest yet most accurate thing I've ever written). But sadly time is a finite bastard and eventually the show had to end....and we had to record some thoughts about it. So join us and Colin this week as we recap our favorite backyard show that is ConnectiCon. Oh, and check out our photos, too. for that. -Jr.

A long, long, long, long, long time ago we took a shot at having this guy Charlie on our show. He was the creator of a website that was devoted to the collection of sketch pricing from various artists at conventions. While there's no exact science to sketching and pricing literally varies from con to con; it was an amazing tool for giving you an idea of how much you might anticipate spending on one of your favorite artists. As it turns out this guy Charlie is rad as hell and is now one of the show's closest friends. Unlike OMV, Sketch Prices is ever evolving and Charlie and his crew are constantly looking for new ways to improve their product. They just recently launched the open group on Facebook so anyone can join in and contribute/admire as they please. Click to check it out. This week's jam also brings us our review of the from a few weeks ago up in Worcester, MA. You might remember Alex and Brett visiting the show last year. This time it was Alex and I working our usual OMV magic aka "trying not to spend too much money". Check out the episode for the full recap. One last thing: ConnectiCon is literally happening right now. We're going to be there soon so make sure to follow us on , , and for all of the inevitable updates. Peace -Jr.

is but a week away and over the past couple of years it has really solidified its place near the top of my "Dude I'm pumped for this show" list. It took a few years to grow on me and way back in 2013 I remember thinking it was a one day show at best. That has changed. See, I know what ConnectiCon is now. And I know what kind of show it brings to the table. I also know that our friends from Super Art Fight have been there every year since we started going...and they're going to continue that tradition next week. So what better way to celebrate than to have two of the guys who make the whole thing possible on our show so we can gush about how much we dig them and their production for well over an hour. Shameless and damn proud of it. Besides, it's been WAY too long since we to them and that was a problem that needed fixing right away. For more info on the beautiful insanity that is Super Art Fight click . Check out their schedule, find a show near you or check out their if you can't make it out. You can trust us when we say it'll be worth your time. -Jr.

After about 5 years of existence and 223 episodes of a podcast it seems my laptop is showing signs of age. It's to the point where I won't open the internet while we record and I turn the brightness on my screen all the way down in hopes that it keeps the fan to a low hum and not the screaming whirlwind that it's turned into recently. Shame, really....as I'd really like to not have to buy a new computer any time soon but it's looking more and more like I'm going to have to bite the bullet or else risk being disconnected from the internet for a while. *shudder* Anywho. This week's jam features a good friend of ours named Dave who is just a rad person who enjoys doing rad things with rad people. He's pretty much the epitome of what we aim for in our guests. He's been a friend of the show for a few years now and we figured it was long overdue for him to make his OMV debut. Enjoy! #nerfbastion -Jr.

Our guest this week is the man responsible for countless Instagram screen caps/Facebook messages to Alex saying "dude did you see this?!" or "god damnit it's literally perfect" etc etc. His name is Daniel Govar. And he makes art. (Really good art. Like damn good stuff.) We've been fans of Govar for a while now and long-time listeners will probably recall hearing the name a few times in the past (especially during our chat with last year). Alex has thrown money at him on multiple occasions and I've expressed my jealousy at the results of his thrown money on a consistent basis...meaning pretty much every time I'm over his house. His shit is just really good and he's a good dude to boot. So enough gushing for now...as there's plenty more in the episode. Seriously. It's to the point where we have to warn our guests that we tend to fanboy a bit and our interviews sometimes turn into a compliment barrage. But we're working on it...and maybe someday we'll learn how to do this interview thing correctly. Maybe. We hope you dig our chat with Daniel as much as we did and if you're at Heroes Con this weekend make sure to stop by his table and say "hey" for us! -Jr.

It's strangely coincidental that I can't stop playing videogames during the two week span of our videogame origin episodes. Recently my gaming habits had transformed into "well...I have an hour. Maybe I'll boot up Bioshock: Infinite for a few". Up until about two months ago my PS3 had just turned into a Netflix machine. A decent amount of my gaming crew had upgraded to the 4 and all the games I had for the 3 had become stale from playing them for half a decade. Then (while in the process of buying a house, mind you) I gave into my impulses and upgraded as well. And now I can't stop gaming. I'm back. I'm with the metaphorical "new shit" and I can play new games again. Namely Overwatch. And Uncharted 4 which was incredible but let's be real here. Overwatch has consumed me. I can't remember the last time I put so many hours into a single game in such a short span of time. Not to mention almost all of my core gaming friends have also picked it up which makes it even more damaging to my productivity. You can expect a full review soon as it's going to be difficult for Alex and me to shut up about it. Alas, this week is for origins. And it's time for part two. -Jr.

A while back Alex and I did a jam about the origins of our Comic Book obsessions. People seemed to dig it. So this week we had Joe on so we could do it again. Only with video games because that's what we do when Joe comes on. We didn't intend on making this one into two parts...but like last time with the comic book origins...we couldn't stop talking. So here's part one of our video game origins. Part two will drop next week. Check it out; we think you'll dig it. -Jr.

So um. A lot happened in comics this week. And some people seem upset.  Let's talk about it, yeah?? Also I get on an extended segue detailing my LEGO sets. It's real primetime stuff. -Jr.

Strap on your goggles and grab your shillelaghs kids. It's time for the 2016 Steampunk World's Fair recap!   2016 marks our 4th consecutive year covering the World's Fair and 4 consecutive years later I'm still having an absolute blast at this show. Of course no SPWF recap is complete without the incomparable Brett Kelley who was kind enough to join in on the fun despite being forced to spend the entire weekend with us. He's a real trooper, that Brett Kelley. Anyways, we hope you love the episode and if you've even been considering checking out the Fair we hope maybe it'll give you that last little push needed to buy a ticket. You can trust us when we say it is absolutely worth it. Click for photos of this year's happenings. -Jr.

Brett Kelley (yes, THE Brett Kelley) is literally on his way to pick me up so we can head to The Steampunk World's Fair so for now this is going to be really short but when we get back on Sunday I'm going to toss some more awesomeness up here that actually deals with this week's jam. The one and only Ryan Vella joined us (in person!) this week to give us all the delicious details from the recent LoL bans and also to discuss the state of eSports as a whole. This stuff is growing. It's growing fast. And it is amazing. More to come. -Jr.