The Flopcast

We seem to have survived the first (and yikes, hopefully the last) online "virtual" version of DragonCon! This year, instead of descending upon downtown Atlanta, we all stayed home, got on the stupid internet, and made it happen. Kevin and the Mayor of Chickentown (as well as lots more ESO Network personnel) were quite busy with DragonCon panels and meetups throughout Labor Day weekend, and this year Kornflake was able to join us too! Time to look back and figure out what in the world happened. Including: Panels on Lost in Space, Titans, 12 Monkeys, and more; fun with green screens; costuming at home; a Twilight Zone tournament; The Shadow meets Taylor Dayne; the virtual Hilton bar; the virtual Geek Girls Run; making pie (the boozy kind) way up in Massachusetts; a surprise Roll-a-Panel (featuring The Last Dragon); naughty novelizations; and freaking out over Fonzie cartoons. It was magnificent. Special thanks to everyone at DragonCon's American Sci-Fi Classics Track and American SF-Fantasy Media Track! You are our people. See you next year, nerds, one weird way or another...

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DragonCon goes virtual!

This week's promo: Ring of Thunder!

It's DragonCon weekend, and while the convention is virtual this year, we're not gonna miss hanging out with Martha and Brittany from the podcast But First, Let's Talk Nerdy! And the Mayor of Chickentown is here too! It's a party, so get ready for some silly DragonCon talk, including: The Marriott vs. the Hyatt, a friendly dog crashing our Zoom call, our traditional Sam Adams Octoberfest, plastic mermaids, cereal box costumes, Agents of SHIELD costumes, packing costumes for DragonCon, having a giant head, the DragonCon Geek Girls Run, making Kevin jealous with mimosas and waffles, Booster Gold, Scooby Doo, and Katy Perry conspiracy theories. It all gets a little crazy, but that's DragonCon. Hopefully we can do it all for real in Atlanta next year. But for now, join us right here. No membership badge required.

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DragonCon goes virtual!

Brittany and Martha's show, But First, Let's Talk Nerdy!

This week's promo: The 42cast!

We're just a few days away from DragonCon! Normally we'd be flying to Atlanta right about now, with our Sleestak costumes carefully stuffed in our carry-on bags. But DragonCon is happening online this year, so just stay home and tune in. (But do still dress like a Sleestak. Always.) And we have more special DragonCon guests here on the Flopcast this week! Christine and Darryl are veteran DragonCon attendees, often spotted around the convention in their eerily accurate Doctor Crusher and Captain Picard costumes. So we're talking Star Trek (and DragonCon's Trek Track), our adventures as DragonCon Newbie Walking Tour guides, rolling giant dice with the American Sci-Fi Classics Track, and being trapped in Rhode Island for DragonCon weekend. (Rhode Island is at least as weird as DragonCon, so that helps.) Kevin and the Mayor (and lots more ESO Network personnel) will be appearing on several virtual DragonCon panels - watch our social media pages for our complete schedule, coming very soon. Meanwhile, be like Kornflake, stock up on scary beverages, and prepare for online geekery. This is happening.

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Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation!

DragonCon goes virtual!

This week's promo: Pop Culture Cosmos!

As virtual DragonCon approaches, we're virtually catching up with some of our favorite DragonCon people. And our guest this week is another old friend, coming to you all the way from Tennessee: Strange Animals Podcast host Kate Shaw! Kevin and Kate met through the small press publishing scene of the 90s, before they traded in their photocopiers and staplers for microphones and digital recorders. Now they meet up at DragonCon every year (except, you know, this year), and their DragonCon memories include steampunk owl-catcher costumes, birdwatching in the rain, and trying to give away a banana. Kate is working with DragonCon's Digital Media track again this year, and we'll share her virtual panel schedule soon, assuming we're not all devoured by giant ice worms. Also this week: DragonCon beverages, the DragonCon parade, Mary Tyler Moore costume groups, and Bigfoot. (Warning: As the convention gets closer, this show gets weirder.)

In a normal year, right now we'd be preparing to go to Atlanta for DragonCon, our favorite annual gathering of the geeks. But, as you may have noticed, this is not a normal year. We're still going to DragonCon, but it'll be an online virtual convention - just fire up your Commodore 64 and tune in! (You're old school. We like that.) And since we won't get to hang out with our DragonCon friends in person, we're bringing them here to the Flopcast, starting this week with Jessica Mercy! Jessica is a singer (with her band Anaria), a costume designer and model (with Good Enough Cosplay), and a longtime DragonCon attendee. And she's back on the Flopcast (after seven years!) to discuss her history with the convention, her experience as a DragonCon guest and performer, and her upcoming projects. Jessica is one of the most talented people we know (and yikes, that's saying something), and she's keeping busy, even in our weird new world. Also: The return of the Swedish Chef (and his new turkey friend), memories of DragonCon 1996 (only some of which involve GWAR), and the day the coffee died in Chickentown.

DragonCon goes virtual!

Jessica Mercy's symphonic metal band, Anaria!

Good Enough Cosplay!

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This week's promo: Cigar Nerds!

Never mind the humans, it's time for our ninth (!) annual robot-themed Top 4 1/2 List. And because this is not a normal summer, we're combining the robot list with our new quarantine era segment, Trapped in the House. Kevin is supplying the weird robot options, and Kornflake must choose which robots are stomping on over to her place and moving in. Are these robots angry, crazy, and super annoying? But of course. Also: 1980s computers, Partners in Crime with Loni and Lynda, virtual DragonCon, and a very exciting bird feeder update.

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Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation!

DragonCon goes virtual!

Watch-A-Thon of Rassilon episode 126, with the Mayor of Chickentown!

This week's promo: Double Edged Double Bill!

It's our Billy Joel episode! Which we've been meaning to do for years! (Sorry about the delay. We've been really busy and/or sleepy.) We start by celebrating the 40th (!) anniversary of the Glass Houses album, and determine if it's really still rock and roll to us. Then Kornflake presents a Top 4 1/2 List of her favorite Billy Joel songs. (It's a slightly randomized list, based on coin tosses, so you can play along at home and guess if Kornflake prefers uptown girls or innocent men.) So grab a bottle of red and a bottle of white. (And a bottle of Ramblin' Root Beer. Don't ask us why.) We'll supply the hot funk, cool punk, old junk, big shots, angry young piano men, and heart attackackackackackacks. We just may be the lunatics you're looking for. But probably not.

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Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation!

This week's promo: The Best Saturdays of Our Lives!

Because we're idiots, last summer we forced ourselves to watch all the Meatballs sequels. (There were three, which felt like three hundred.) So this week, continuing the theme of disappointing follow-ups to classic Bill Murray movies, we finally watched all the Caddyshack sequels. (There was just one, which somehow also felt like three hundred.) Caddyshack II got a few things right: A script by Harold Ramis (which was unfortunately rewritten into oblivion), another killer theme song from Kenny Loggins ("Nobody's Fool" is arguably superior to "I'm Alright"), the return of Chevy Chase (still advising everyone to be the ball), and the return of our beloved gopher (now sounding suspiciously like Frank Welker). But then there were some problems, with Dan Aykroyd, Jackie Mason, and Robert Stack as vastly inferior substitutes for Bill, Rodney, and Ted. On the other hand, there was a weird connection to Steve Martin's The Jerk, a weird connection to Robolar from Mars, and a Bushwood Country Club snob played by a future member of Wilson Phillips. So that's something. (Oh, we also sneaked in a Kim Richards double feature this week, with the classic Escape to Witch Mountain and the non-classic Tuff Turf.) In summary: We like watching stupid things, so here we are. Back at the shack.

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This week's promo: ESO Network Patreon!

Robolar from Mars!

A mysterious package arrived at the studio, and now we're the proud (?) owners of a Teen Beat 1981 Calendar magazine. You can read it like a magazine (and learn all about Gary Coleman) or hang it on the wall like a calendar (and spend an entire month staring at John Schneider). We flip through the whole thing, hoping at least one month would feature a chimpanzee, and we are not disappointed. (KISS fans, however, were disappointed by the departure of Peter Criss... but at least he's Teen Beat's Miss December.) So join us back in 1981, which was way less horrifying than 2020. Also: A Texas chicken makes the perfect escape, Kevin is talking about Archie, Kornflake is talking about Oliver & Company, Martha and Brittany are in the Geek Seat, and birthday girl Edie McClurg was a Snork.

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Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation!

This week's promo: Metal Geeks!

Rewatching the Magic: A Disney Fan Podcast, with special guest Kornflake!

American Sci-Fi Classics Quarantine Panel #14: To Riverdale and Back Again - Everything's Archie!

The ESO Bored Silly podcast is available through ESO's Patreon!

But First, Let's Talk Nerdy's Martha and Brittany in the Geek Seat on Earth Station One!

It's the conclusion of our latest silly tournament, as we randomly draw more Lilith Fair performers to compete in more stupid events. (For example, would Sheryl Crow or Jewel be a better Lyft driver? We have the definitive answer.) Last week, your Lilith queen Sarah McLachlan was knocked out of contention, so it's anybody's game at this point. Kevin loves Joan Osborne, Kornflake loves the Indigo Girls, but can anyone stop Dar Williams? Meanwhile, a bizarre dark horse contender emerges... So hop aboard for another crazy FlopFight. A change would do you good.

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Email: [email protected]

Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation!

This week's promo: Dr. Geek's Laboratory!