Episode 14

Sponsored by: Halloween

Our first annual Halloween SOJcast, what could be better?

How about the first annual Xombee Guy Halloween strip?

You got it:Current Events  (1:00)As the east coast of America is pounded by the Frankenstorm. We discuss other storms that have shaped American history. When you hear the line "Give Queen Elizabeth a nautical spanking..." it will seem perfectly natural.

Last week was the Microsoft Surface launch. We discuss our "unboxing" experience and talk about whether or not we could actually write a book on this thing.

In fact, last week's co-cohost Charles Joy, also reviewed a Surface on his Podcast. Why not check it out here. Halloween-o-rama (13:00)   We discuss our favorite Halloween memories. Turns out they were not the hot, sweaty, southern Halloweens of our childhoods. Listen as we discuss the fatherly task of sorting candy for the kids, at least until they are old enough to sort it themselves.Also learn the Oct 30 tradition at Stacey's house.

Scary Book/Movie talk  (31:00)

Is The Tell-Tale Heart scarier than Misery?

What makes a book (or movie) scary?

We discuss some of our recent fears like falling off a cruise ship or falling from a great height. What scares you and why?

Food Porn  (47:10) Halloween Meatloaf

Start a tradition

Combine ingredients in a VERY large bowlPlace in a baking pan (or several)Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hourUse the remaining 1/2 bottle of chili sauce on top if loaf (or loaves)Feeds a small army

Pumpkin Seeds

Delight in some pumpkin seeds, don't throw them away!

 Remove the seeds from your pumpkin. Wash them thoroughly. Remove any pulp.Drizzle olive oil on the seeds and mix (optional)Arrange seeds in a single layer on a baking panBake for 30 minutes at 300 degrees.Salt to taste.Feeds one hungry dude.

Episode 13

Sponsored by:

Super Heroes

In a SOJcast first, we have a co-co-host (through the magic of Skype). 

Charles Joy 

@ThanosRules, mastermind behind the wildly successful podcast - Stacks of Comics. 

Spoiler Alert! he sounds like Kevin Smith!

How did Charles receive such an honor? 

Was this because he was the first person to leave a comment last week? Listen and find out!

Comic Savant, Podcast Powerhouse, and the Prophet of Purple.

 Charles had just come back from the Women of Wonder Day 2012

Interview  (formally at 17:30 but really the fun starts at the beginning)

Our first ever SOJcast interview. Give a big round of applause for Charles (louder please, its the internet).

Last week we covered literature, this week we cover comic books. We are nothing if not versatile. 

Lar deSouza Original - Captain Marvel as Texas Ranger

Questions asked:

The bottom line is we all recommend that you check out your local comic store. They can be your spirit guide into comics. It's not scary at all.

http://www.comicshoplocator.com

Food Porn  (52:45)

Mexican Standoff!

In another SOJcast first, Stacey and Mark disagree about a restaurant? No way!

Someone ate a fajita inside of a pineapple. No kidding. 

Hear the story of  Cancun Mexican Restaurant.

Who loved it Who hated it?

We leave the final decision to Charles because he lives in Texas.

We agree to Charles' decree and we will go back (together) and try it again.

The meal in question

What's the litmus test for a good Mexican restaurant? \

A Taco? Salsa? Fajitas?

Leave a comment with your opinion.

The Best things we ate this week:

Okay, well maybe Charles didn't eat it this week but he describes in loving detail Jalapeno Ranch Dip.

Delicioso Jalapeno Ranch Dip

Episode 12

Sponsored by:

First Cars

First cars come in all shapes and sizes. Ours looked something like the two images above. What was your first car? Leave us a comment. Go ahead, rub it in.

Updates (3:22)

Mark's mom comes to visit. They set off for a pleasant train ride to a pumpkin patch and end up in a maelstrom of political campaigning. True story! Mark also had dinner with legendary cartoonist Chris Hart.

Stacey was off galavanting with Jamaican goats. More precisely he went on a Caribbean cruise. Loads of medication prevented sea sickness. Take that Ahab! He also faced the perils of tubing and climbing waterfalls without a safety net.

Luckily Stacey got to hold hands with a sweaty man who saved him from almost near certain peril (maybe).

SOJ History (23:00)

Read the story of our first cars here: Training Wheels

Reviews  (35:00)

Love in the Time of Dinosaurs by Alexandria Constantinova Szeman

This is a collection of short stories and poetry that we delighted in reading. When confronted with beautiful language and Old Testament references, it's best to just luxuriate in the prose. Clearly a book for fans of literature and good writing everywhere. It's not often that we find stories that take such magical but unflinching examinations into the lives of famous characters like Lot's wife, fictional footnotes like Ahab's wife and even nobodies like Auggie Vernon.

Follow Alexandria Szeman - @Alexandria_SZ on Twitter and read more about at her page here.

Grab an copy on Amazon. or read some more excerpts.

This book is so good, we are extending an invitation to Alexandria to be interviewed on a future SOJCast. That's a SOJCast first!

Food Porn  (50:45)

Stacey climbs aboard the floating feast that is a modern cruise ship (Freedom of the Seas). Check your stateroom for towel monkeys or towel elephants (they will wear your shades). Also they have been known to steal your towels.

14 decks of floating feasts with a Johnny Rockets on the top deck. Nice. Italian, Steak, Indian, Chinese, Buffets, take your pick. Your Macedonian waiter will be happy to assist you further.

The Best things we ate this week:

Tartufo. A dessert so good, Stacey forgot to take a picture before he zoomed through the thing. Happily for us, it was a cruise ship and he was able to just order up another. 

Episode 11

Sponsored by:

Caller ID

 

 

This week we discuss the pitfalls of not having Caller ID. A technology that we all take for granted today. Watch some classic sitcoms and then consider how different they would be if the cast had Caller ID. Seinfeld - we're looking at you. Better yet, listen to this week's SOJCast.

Project Updates (6:00)

Getting up at the crack of dawn, perhaps even before that, has been working pretty well. The book grows in pages as the tree does in leaves. This week we also record the SOJCast before the sun rises.

Did you hear Stacey's story of a competent public official? If only all politics really were local.

It's also that time of year when Parent/Teacher conferences happen. Was Stacey's trip a brow beating from the faculty or a victory lap for the 'rents?

SOJ History (21:00)

Read the story of The Refugee

Reviews  (44:00)

eWomen are Lunatics (eDating Advice from the Bubbameistah) by Maura Stone

It's a terrific book of dating advice from your Yiddish Grandmother. Surprisingly hilarious!

Of course you should date online, you're such a catch.

Follow Maura Stone - @MauraStone on Twitter and at her Blog

Grab an copy on Amazon. 

 

 

Food Porn  (52:30)

Stacey gets ready to head off on vacation and leave his low carb lifestyle on the shore. But this week we are still toughing it out with animal flesh. Chickens in particular.

 

The best meal of the week goes to our chicken wing feast at Hooters. We were there for the wings... seriously, we were. No, really. Usually we just take them home. The Chicken Wings.

Also restaurant karma comes full circle and we get a giant table!

 

50 wings. Medium, wet and naked. That just doesn't sound right!

 

We also spend some time reminiscing about our favorite chicken wing restaurant of all time (that is no more). Buffalo's Original Wings 'N Rings in Tallahassee, FL. They had awesome chicken wings and served carrots with their blue cheese!

We loved it so much we saved a coupon for more than 20 years. If you ever use a time machine and go to the beginning of 1989, feel free to use our coupon. You'll be glad you did - time machine gas is really expensive, or so we hear.

Episode 10

Sponsored by:

Dogs

Ever wonder what the SOJ dogs look like? Really? That's odd.

Anyway, here's the crew:

Jake

Sophie

Kodos

 Enough already with the cuteness.

Project Updates

Our new format or More of what you want when you want it.

Pirates surround Studio Z!

Stacey gets an earful of Yiddish curses from TTWGN

Our desktop Ballista Update. Spoiler Alert: It works.

Our Desktop and our Ballista. It must be our Desktop Ballista!

SOJ History

Read the story of Ouzo the Dog and Puppy Love.

Reviews 

PGB by Christina Fifield-Winn

Follow CF Winn - @KafeCastro on Twitter

Thirty toothbrushes for thirty days. It will all seem perfectly normal, you just wait.

Grab an e-copy on Amazon. 

Food Porn 

Boi Na Brasa

The best thing you can do on your low carb diet. Just don't blame us if you get the meat "sweats"

One of many, many plates. Notice green is facing up!

Episode 9

Sponsored by:

Alaska!

Current Events 

Fall comes to the Midwest. This means its time to cover the pool, level the backyard and salt the earth.

We discuss Mark's Alaskan Get-a-way:

Where's the Kenai Peninsula exactly and was it near that Exxon-Valdez oil spill? It sure was:

Fall colors come to Alaska first. Take that Maine!

A brief history of gold in Fairbanks at the Davidson Ditch

Gold Dredge #8 

Would you trade gold for a 1974 Fiat? Someone did...

Project Updates 

Stacey recounts the story of his bout with tonsillitis and use of the spit bowl. Some folks in the twitterverse doubted it was a factual account. Listen: it's a true story. We promise.

We also discuss our new writing schedule. We might need a rooster!

Remember: "Books are measured in pages, not in fragments of ham."

Reviews 

Stacey sings the praise of Mary Paddock.

Martian Buffaloes and mermaids, oh my! 

Grab an e-copy of Sing on Amazon. 

Or better yet, have them mail you a copy in paperback.

Food Porn 

A Senora reindeer dog - it just boggles the mind.

If you favorite pizzeria doesn't come with a fat dog to beg for your crusts, maybe you should move to Alaska.

Panorama Pizza in Cantwell, AK

We discuss a bit about Halibut fishing in Homer, Alaska. Home of Jewel and Mrs. America 2012.

This is what a halibut looks like, expect they might weight over 300lbs!!!

The Best things we ate this week:

How's this for accessible: Fresh Eggs. 

Okay, I know you probably don't have access to eggs this fresh. That should make you mad. 

Consider getting yourself some hens. No, Seriously - hens.

Eggs laid the day before by chickens 10 feet away

Episode 8

Sponsored by:

 Honesty

Current Events 

A Gym class where you fail if you don't hit your ideal BMI?

What's become of our public schools?

Restaurant: Impossible

The Roberts clan gets to hang out with Robert Irvine on the muddy banks of the Ohio river. Celebrity stalking at its finest.

Project Updates 

Every wonder why this is called a SOJcast?

The origin story of The Sons of Joy is finally here. Listen and learn.

As for updates, honestly, we didn't get anything done.

Are we sorry for that? We are.

We discuss our ideas on resetting our target date. Feel free to hold us to this!

Reviews 

We kinda review The King of Kong. Sorta.

Watch it. It's dramatic.

Food Porn 

Another week without carbs. (grumble)

So, uh, chicken, it's chicken then. Yeah.

The Best things we ate this week:

Ms. Laura's Chicken Salad Recipe:

  Exactly how much of those is a mystery, yo. If only she would write a food blog...

Buffalo Wings with garlic (this was good garlic)

The good and bad of chicken wings at Tom and J's in Hollywood, FL (formerly Wings and Curls - new name, same great wings). A mistep with garlic that had grave gastronic consiquences doesn't stop Mark from going back twice in one week. Blue cheese with poppy seeds is extra fun for mandatory drug testing. The curly fries sure look good - and to the best of our recollection they were, in fact, good.

We also recall that our high school physics teacher, Mr. Donate, enjoyed Rickey's wings, which is just down the street from Tom and J's, plus it is featured in the King of Kong!

Episode 7

Sponsored by:

Lowered Expectations

Current Events 

Mitt Romney picks Paul Ryan as his running mate. We reflect on how picks are made and a brief history of how VPs were picked in the old day. Would you believe it was even more fractious than today? We also talk about the times when the VP actually assumed the mantle of the presidency.

Also America wins the Olympics and lands an SUV on Mars. Take that, everyone who's not America!

Don't forget to try your hand (and arms) at landing the Mars Rover Landing on the Xbox with Kinect

Project Updates 

After spilling our collective guts to you in SOJcast #6, we are happy to report that we are getting back to it. Check out Stacey's blog Trailer Trash with a Girl's Name which is also linked on our site. While working on a special scene in which our characters must cut off someone's leg, we decided we should try to understand how this works.

Graphic Content Follows! It's only pork but its still kinda gross

In our earnest desire to understand the mechanics of dismemberment, we pay a trip to our local butcher (and raise the suspicions of local authorities) and create a "leg" from pork.

Kids, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. We are professional authors.

Our homemade leg. "Before"

We learn that jeans are surprisingly effective against a cleaver.

The tissue beneath the denim isn't exactly pristine but the cleaver is deflected from cutting the jeans.

Of course once the jeans are out of the way, well that's another matter....

Our  leg after the cleaving 

Reviews 

No reviews this week. We suck.

Food Porn 

What happens when you go to a restaurant and don't order your favorite item?

Say it ain't so. Lowered carbohydrates means lowered expectations.

Outback with no blooming onion?

Montoya's with no cheese dip?

The Best things we ate this week:

Oh, and a food porn section without any pictures of food? Really?

Please address all complaints to our sponsor.

Episode 6

Sponsored by:

Productivity

Current Events 

We cover the SOJcast hiatus during which Stacey and kin tour the southern states, including Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Mark returns to The Matador and doesn't get into a fight with the locals not to mention he guest hosts on Stack of Comics.

Plus, Vice President Joe Biden, confesses to Stacey that money is what wins elections (we do our best to conceal our shock).

Project Updates 

Xombee Guy reaches a landmark - 52 countries in 20 weeks. The internet allows you to take what you create make it available worldwide. Does that make you more or less productive?

Does technology help you be more productive or does it just mean you must produce more?

We also confess that we have not meet our productivity goals. We also make a SOJcast promise to get back on that horse and keep you up to date - for good or ill.

Reviews 

We consider movie sequels and whether the people involved are bringing their 'A' game or if they are just phoning it in.

Ice Age: Continental Drift

A Bucket of Blood

Food Porn 

NOLA Food porn but alas, no beignets  :(

The Coffee Pot - New Orleans, LA. Breakfast the way it used to be with boudin balls!

Cajun Mike's -  New Orleans, LA. Order whatever you want. It'll be great!

Try the "Cochon De Lait" or a burger

Another SOJcast visit to Lambert's Cafe  ThrowedRolls.com in Folley, AL  

The Best things we ate this week:

Homemade lasagna just to tease you. Unless you can talk Rob into making some for you.

The Double-Cheeseburger that bested all others. Denny's - Pensacola, FL (this particular Denny's)

The best. Soup. Ever.  El Gaucho - Seattle, WA

Also home of the most expensive steak Mark has consumed ($142 USD)

Best. Soup. Ever.

The SOJcast also walks back (a little) our ideas on quality and value. A what point do diminishing returns kick in for food?

Episode 5

Sponsored by:

Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research Laboratory

Current Events 

Life isn't all sunshine and smiles. This week we consider the meaning of Carpe Diem as we look at some of the less fortunate events in the news. When Alligator boy lost his arm should we be thanking the History channel or blaming them? Also sad news from Comic-con 

Project Updates 

The death of the original SOJast. So it goes. The new SOJcast is here. Long live the SOJCast.

Reviews 

We also look at Disasteroid! The Muon Kickstarter. Musical theater about the end of the world? What's not to love. We can't wait for them to give us a cool nickname! Consider supporting the live arts. 

The heatwave finally broke but not before we took refuge in the movie houses. We discuss a couple of summer movies including Bernie and its amazing portrayal of East Texas, plus we talk about Amazing Spider-Man 

Food Porn 

AmerAsia in Covington, KY is a little bit of hipster paradise. Where, if you ask nice, they may describe fried rice to you at great length.

Sushi Dragon in Mississauga, Ontario