Hola, Sneakers! This week on the show, Bob Mackey and Nina Matsumoto make a return visit to the dragons’ lair! Although we maintain that Bob needs no introduction, let us mention that he is the host of of such big-time podcasts as Talking Simpsons, What A Cartoon and Retronauts. As you will learn this episode, Bob is a big proponent of Patreon. You can find Talking Simpsons and its many spin off podcasts here, and go here to learn more about supporting Retronauts.

And Nina and Bob didn’t drop by just to drink beer, oh no; this week on the show: vocal fries; Dave turns Ian on; nice weather we’re having; revolving restaurants; perfect murders; the 999 controversy; trivial Simpsons experts; bar trivia night; pinball rivalry; personal podcast histories; visiting Conan; the excitement of Mayomust; the non-excitement of Canadian food; California split; safe travels; belief, cognitive dissonance and the flat Earth; the monetary value of everything; promoting yourself; we’re positive; Ricky Gervaise humiliates himself; the awful truth; almost a pun – try “Dogsvadanya”, Dave; and, finally, not with a bang, but a whimper.

Question of the week: What cartoon (animated or strip influenced you the most as a child?)

Thanks for listening.

And,in case your wondering why Britain chose 999 as its emergency number, here’s why.

And who was this 999 band Dave was talking about? Here they are, promoting murder in empty fields and on desolate bridges:

Hola, Sneakers! During this week’s episode, Ian states that you do not want to be referred to “Sneakers”, but we can’t believe that to be true! We’re not sure when we started referring to you as “Sneakers”, but it’s been quite awhile and, frankly, tradition will always win out over hurt feelings!

On this week’s show: Let’s start with math; let’s fix schooling; classroom hi-jinks; dog interruption; it’s a gift; hangin’ on the telephone; I.D. error; magical circular arguments; demonic position; emotional cleansing; neologism; mixtapes; book limits; last week’s questions – Sneakers respond; death to robots; the shape-shifter flaw; when life gives you Lenos; the art gets what the art wants; the late shows; and, finally, forget about it.

Question of the Week: Do you watch late night television? Do you feel they’ve become too political?

Welcome back to all you musically-inclined Sneakers out there! Welcome to Episode 10 of our show. You know we have an open invitation to all of you to join is in the Listening Party rumpus room, curl up in your favourite comfy chair, and listen to some great and/or songs that Dave thinks are great.

This episode, we move on to side two of Thomas Callaway’s second mixtape of his three disc set. This mixtape has been fairly eclectic and not always eager to please so we hope you’ve enjoyed it.

This week we played:

* Cardinal – “If You Can Believe in Christmas Trees” – Cardinal, 1994* Unit 4+2 – “I Will” – Rubble 1: The Psychedelic Snarl, 1984 (originally released in 1969)* Joanna Newsom – “The Sprout and the Bean” – The Milk-Eyed Mender, 2004* The Pussycats – “Dressed in Black” – One Kiss Leads to Another – Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found, 2005* The Young Knives – “Loughborough Suicide” – Voices of Anmimal and Men, 2006* Pavement – “Spit on a Stranger” – Terror Twilight, 1999* Morrissey – “Why Don’t You Find Out for Yourself” – Vauxhall and I, 1996* The Free Design – “One by One” – One by One, 1971* Parquet Courts – “Stoned and Starving” – Light Up Gold, 2012* Denim – “I’m Against the Eighties” – Back in Denim, 1992

Also played this episode:

George “Shadow” Morten – “Dressed in Black (Unreleased Demo)” – Red Bird Story, 1999

Every time we finish a mixtape, we like to make it available to you to listen to uninterrupted. Follow this link to Thomas Callaway Fan Mix 2.

Hola, Sneakers! Welcome to Sneaky Dragon Episode 379!

This week on the show: it’s not divisible by three; unpopular topics – math, grammar, and religion – an example of the sometimes unfortunately neglected Oxford comma; the importance of eating sugar; work wheel; sugars of choice; Lent dispute; scary records and religious misunderstandings; Jesus and the hero’s journey; Jesus shat; no one remembers the jokes; Ian copyrights Scamelot©; an important – yet vague – sidecast announcment; questions and answers of the week – Sneakers respond; Twin Peakery; fever dream; return to risk; peer pressure and how to say no, and the risks of saying no; the Blondie question; sing a song of Nancy; comedy formalism; and, finally, we won’t be seeing Captain Marvel.

Question of the week: Book and/or movie that wasn’t working for you until the end blew you away.

Thanks for listening.

Department of Corections: Yes, we know Dave confused the ancient TV shows F-Troop and Dusty’s Trails.

Hola, Sneakers!

So…iTunes is strongly encouraging podcasters to not include episode numbers in their posts so from now on we will be differentiating episodes by giving them a title related in some way to the main theme or topic of each show. (We also have to go back and remove episode numbers from our past 377 shows so…hooray?)

That said, this week on the show: science questions; calories; Tic Tacs, sparks in the closet; Sparks in book form; accelarating work rates; hairballs; Ian loves Ten Speed and Brownshoe; Stephen J. Cannell shows; Ian and Dave have thoughts about TV show finales: Life, Medium, Life on Mars, Corner Gas, Extras, Dream On, Ash Vs. Evil Dead; Land of the Lost all get a mention; Supernatural B.C.; Freddie Mercury as Bond villain; horse whispering; priorities; The Price is Right, bitch; “speaking of heroin”; Ian has complicated feelings about your idea of fun; new uses for Mt. Everest; Tom Cruise and his ego; shout outs; Dave’s choir goes straight to Hell; and, finally, a Frostin’ of Austen.

Question of the Week: Which TV shows ended best? And Sub-Question of the Week: Which ended worst?

Here is a clip of Free Solo climber Alex Honnold discussing mountain climbing in the movies:

The filmmakers of Free Solo discuss the making of the film:

Alex Honnold discusses how he planned and undertook his free solo climb of El Capitan:

Tom Cruise discusses the HALO jump in MI: Fallout:

Welcome back, musical Sneakers! Please pull up a big comfy chair and join our little circle of friends around the old Victrola as we listen to Side 1 of Thomas Callaway’s second mixtape. Very exciting!

We know you’ll enjoy this week’s fine selection of songs – even though Dave seems to have had a hard time getting past 1971 this episode:

* Crazy Horse – “Dirty, Dirty” – Crazy Horse, 1971* Emitt Rhodes – “Pardon Me” – American Dream, 1970* Todd Rundgren – “Long, Flowing Robe” – Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren, 1971* Matthew Sweet – “Sick of Myself” – 100% Fun, 1995* Jimmy Webb – “P.F. Sloan” – Words and Music, 1970* John Simon – “The Song of the Elves” – John Simon’s Album, 1971* The Futureheads – “Hounds of Love” – The Futureheads, 2004* American Spring – “Fallin’ in Love” – American Spring…Plus, 1989* The American Flag – “Oh, My Mind” – Just Like Friend EP, 1999* Jim White (with Aimee Mann) – “Static on the Radio” – Drill a Hole Through the Substrate and Tell Me What You See, 2004

Other songs featured during the show:

* The Rockets – “Hole in My Pocket”* The Ronettes – “He Did It”* Elvis Presley – “One Night”* Kate Bush – “Hounds of Love”* Dennis Wilson and Rumbo – “Lady”

Don’t forget to tell us your favourite long album title!

Thanks for listening.

Ciao, Sneakers! Welcome to Episode 377 of Sneaky Dragon – the show that is one better than Episode 376!

On this week’s show: they want your money; the video game for tax nerds; Ian’s Mary Poopins; guess the merch; home crafts; procrastinator; problem with the blues; blood types; Ian’s heritage; the spit’s in the mail; the Irish problem; Sneakers answer with their favourite candy bars; Ian’s Karl Lagerfeld joke; butter boy; mean pranks; the legendary john boy; a dollop of Trollope; question of the week and Ian and Dave’s answers; cut books; infections; magical thinking; Ian still doesn’t like Alita: Battle Angel and Dave has some thoughts; and, finally, Ian thinks watching Umbrella Academy inside brings bad luck.

Our question of the week is: What author would you recommend that most people don’t know and why?

Thanks for listening.

Hola, Sneakers! And welcome to Episode 376 of Sneaky Dragon! (Please send help. We don’t know how to stop doing these.)

This week on the show: dangerous erasers; bill paying; hillbilly hilarity; cartoons parody cartoons; Ian was okay with Alita: Battle Angel; we have Sneakers’ answers: best TV shows based on movies; something about EC Comics; war movies; the New Coke conspiracy; Oreo stuff; wine gummery tours; sugar shacks; sugary ham; McChicken sauce; disappointing variety chips; Ian’s tax woes update; Love Bug movies; and, finally, Ian’s Valentine’s Day poem.

Question of the week: What’s the best chocolate bar? And sub-question of the week: What chocolate bar needs improvement?

Thanks to Jimmie Gilmer and the Fireballs for this week’s closing theme.

Thanks for listening.

Hello, hello to all our sneaky music fans out there! This episode was recorded on an especially cold and snowy night so be sure to wear a nice warm robe and maybe wrap yourself in a blanket for this chilly, wintery show.

On this episode, Dave and Mary play and discuss the songs from side two of Thomas Callaway’s first mixtape, featuring:

* Sloan – “She Says What She Means” – Navy Blues, 1998* Pernice Brothers – “Working Girls (Sunlight Shines)” – The World Won’t End, 2001* The Parade – “Kinda Wasted Without You” – Sunshine Girl: The Complete Recordings, 2008* Prefab Sprout – “Here on the Erie” – Swoon, 1984* Beirut – “Santa Fe” – The Rip Tide, 2011* The Go! Team – “Bottle Rocket” – Lightning, Thunder, Strike, 2004* Nick Drake – “Hazey Jane II” – Bryter Layter, 1971* Iron and Wine – “Free Until They Cut Me Down” – Our Endless Numbered Days, 2004* The Fifth Avenue Band – “Country Time Rhymes” – The Fifth Avenue Band, 1972* Vic Chestnutt – “Stay Inside” – Silver Lake, 2003

We also featured two songs not on Dave’s mixtape:

* The Parade – “Sunshine Girl” – The Parade: The Compete Recordings, 2008* Shirley Ellis – “Soul Time” – Northern Soul – Keep The Faith, Vol. 1, 2009

Here is a link to a zip file of Thomas’ first mixtape so you can listen along at home without interruption. We think you’ll get a better sense of the flow and transitions between songs. Enjoy!

Dave misspoke, he meant Malcolm McLaren’s album Duck Rock. Here’s a video for the song “Double Dutch”.

Hola, Sneakers! And welcome to Episode 375! Only 25 weeks to Episode 400. Let’s start the countdown now!

This week on the show: overheards; comedy colds; they’re still at at it; wild birds; not a triangular sign; short films forced watch; effective car ads; mid-life crisis mall; Skytrain’s a sell-out; Ian enjoyed Stan and Ollie; keeping up with the medias; personas; giving conversational space; tax troubles and big bullies; Y the TV series moves forward; was Lou Costello a jerk; modern monster meet up; Liam Neeson’s cold career; Hellblazer pitch; Flasho; Dave enjoyed Bohemian Rhapsody; Ian’s Supernatural-a-thon; Brian May’s guitar; Dave’s “We Are the Champions” mantra; bio-pic singing; Dave enjoyed The Favourite – Ian not so much; Dave also liked Revenge; more Polar; they heartily recommend Russian Doll; more about film trilogies with listener’s picks; immature mature comics; Dave is not a monkey person; boring CGI battles versus practical fight scenes; and, finally, personas in action.

Ian’s question deserves your answer: Has there been a TV series better than the movie that inspired it?

Thanks for listening and sorry about the sniffling.