The Flopcast

Last week Kevin wouldn't shut up about DragonCon, so this week we're catching up with Kornflake! As usual she has been busy with silly adventures of her own, including an impromptu trip to Chicago for our friend Sara's birthday! And to double down on the silliness, Doornail came along too! Join us as Kornflake learns about root beer waffles, gypsy jazz, the Mud Show, why Lewis and Clark were the Hall and Oates of the nineteenth century, why you should always dress like Tootie at a Renaissance fair, and yes, how to bellydance like Groot. Also: It's time to trade in your stupid gas-guzzling car for a sleek fuel-efficient trampoline. That's the Chicago way.

We're safely back in Chickentown after a crazy weekend in Atlanta (with 70,000 of our favorite geeks) for DragonCon! Our convention report includes: the stars of Arrow, Flash, Kids in the Hall, and Mystery Science Theater 3000; the music of Rasputina, Paul and Storm, Mike Phirman, Molly Lewis, The Doubleclicks, Carter Parton Rogers, Mikey Mason, and Here Come The Mummies; the Sci-Fi Drive-In Heckle-Along; the Amazing James Randi; lots more ESO Network podcasters; and American Sci-Fi Classics track panels on important topics like Thundarr the Barbarian, Otherworld, Battlefield Earth, and mullets. We also review our favorite costumes, including Yip-Yips, Super Friends, Hall and Oates (!), our friends from Wicked Geeky, and of course, Carl. Also: Make A Hat Day is this week, and it's way more dangerous than you think.

Kevin has abandoned Chickentown to join the crazy people at DragonCon! Assuming he isn't captured by Sleestaks, we'll have a full report in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, here's a special panel we recorded on the Fourth of July at CONvergence in Bloomington, Minnesota! Kevin is joined by our new best friends Jennifer, Mark, and Anna, and we discuss one of our very favorite subjects: Saturday morning cartoons! Included in the discussion: Scooby Doo, Gilligan's Planet, Jabberjaw, Fangface, Strawberry Shortcake, New Kids on the Block, Danger Mouse, Beetlejuice, The Harlem Globetrotters, Mighty Mouse, Jem, Captain Caveman, Speed Racer, Gargoyles, PSAs, Magic School Bus vs. Mission: Magic!, Filmation's Ghostbusters vs. The Real Ghostbusters, the problem with Super Friends (what?), and much, much more. And if you stick around for the panel's shocking conclusion, you just might hear the Mayor of Chickentown (along with the whole audience) join us for a School House Rock singalong! (Be kind when you unpack your adjectives.) Also: Kornflake learned her multiplication tables not with School House Rock, but with Hershey's chocolate bars. You're not surprised, are you?

This week we're celebrating 75 years of the fastest man alive, The Flash! In the comic books, Flash was a founding member of the Justice League and the Justice Society, as well as a pivotal figure in the history of the DC Comics universe. On the other hand, he has been known to hang around with goofballs like Mopee (Flash's version of the Great Gazoo, sort of) and The Three Dimwits (whose resemblance to The Three Stooges was completely coincidental, we assure you). We also look back at the Flash on TV, including the Filmation cartoons, the Super Friends, and a couple of bizarre live action appearances in the late 1970s. (Alas, Dan Aykroyd has only played Flash once. So far...) And of course, there have also been two live action Flash TV series: the short-lived but fondly-recalled 1990 version, and the surprisingly excellent current version. Both shows, by the way, have guest-starred Mark Hamill as the Trickster. And as Kornflake learns in our totally unfair Flash Villain Quiz, Trickster was certainly not Flash's goofiest villain. Not even close. Also this week: Did Mr. Peanut ever work for the phone company? We think he did, but we're about as reliable as The Three Dimwits.

We're less than two weeks from our favorite geek event of the whole stupid year: DragonCon. So before we begin the long, treacherous journey from Chickentown to Atlanta (we got a great deal on a MTV LeRun skate-bike), here's our DragonCon preview show! This year's guest list includes some of our favorite actors (from Arrow, Flash, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, and of course, Silver Spoons), comedy and music performers (including Paul and Storm, Molly Lewis, The Doubleclicks, and Mikey Mason), puppeteers (Carol "Big Bird" Spinney!), skeptics (The Amazing Randi returns!), and even a couple of guys from Monty Python and The Kids in the Hall! All our friends from the ESO Network will be there too, appearing on panels, podcasting, and ordering way too many buckets of rum at the Hyatt bar. (Speaking of panels, Kevin runs through his whole crazy panel schedule too. Yes, of course we're doing a panel about Thundarr the Barbarian. Did you really have to ask?) Also this week: Kornflake is back from Otis, Massachusetts (where dogs hate to swim, and everyone might be naked); Kevin is back from WeddingCon (where dogs wear Star Trek uniforms) and Connecticut ComiCONN (where we found ANOTHER Disco Boba Fett!); Kyle and Luke talk about Homestar Runner; and Pluto (arguably our favorite dwarf planet) is full of jive turkeys.

Summertime is robot time (as all good citizens know here in Chickentown), and so it's time for our fourth annual robot-themed Top 4 1/2 List! This year, in a desperate attempt to keep things interesting, we're looking specifically at EVIL robots. Evil robots from movies, TV, and video games... evil robot cars... evil robot lobsters (yeah, Kornflake found one)... and of course, an evil robot with a pet monkey and no pants. Hey, humans won't be completely obsolete for another month or two, so you have plenty of time to enjoy this list. Still not convinced? Then here's some evil robot-style click-bait for you: This week we reveal which of the following is NOT an evil robot: Belinda Carlisle, Gloria Estefan, or Enya. The answer will not shock you.

It's another Flopcast convention report, this time from Boston Comic Con! (Official convention motto: "Let's see how many Harley Quinns we can squish into one building!" It sounds better in the original Latin.) There were comic books aplenty, of course, including at least one amoeba-themed mini-comic. (Say goodbye to the X-Men; amoeba comics are the wave of the future.) There were amazing costumes everywhere -- and one of those Harley Quinns even had a rubber chicken. (This is important to us.) And there were celebrities lurking about too, including Gotham's Robin Lord Taylor, 30 Rock's Judah Friedlander, Agent Carter's Hayley Atwell, and the Mistress of the Dark herself, ELVIRA! (We're still sort of freaking out about Elvira.) And in non-convention news: Kornflake has another hammock-themed adventure and checks out the new Minions movie, Kevin nearly gets run over by the roller-disco stars of Xanadu, we celebrate National Lazy Day (or not, whatever), and we remember Rowdy Roddy Piper. Also, yeah, there was a weird juggling incident.

We have an extra-short, extra-goofy show this week, because Kool and the Gang were right: it's TOO HOT. (Of course, Kool and the Gang were always right. So bring your good times and your laughter too, or suffer the consequences.) In honor of National Watermelon Day, we recall the good old days when the government forced everyone to rent Gallagher tapes and pretend to like them. (For a while in the mid-1980s, this was a largely a Gallagher-based economy.) Despite the horrifying heat, we also fire up our supercomputer for a round of "The Pudding Pages," and end up discussing Jolt Cola and other weird soda from the past. (Kornflake still misses OK Soda, mainly because she was addicted to their toll-free hotline.) And finally, our "Chickens in the News" segment takes us to the jungles of Indonesia, where some mad genius built a giant chicken church! But we don't need to visit, because our studio is already hotter than an Indonesian chicken church (as the old saying goes). And so we trust in the wisdom of Kool: Gotta run for shelter, gotta run for shade.

Kevin and Kornflake are back in Chickentown after a goofy road trip to Vermont, where they found bugs, mud, and other constant reminders that they should never leave the house. But hey, in addition to all that pesky nature, there was a "Weird Al" Yankovic concert! Well played, Vermont. We also note the closing of T. T. the Bear's Place, a legendary club that was the heart of Boston's rock scene for decades. TT's was the site of countless shows by some of our favorite performers (including Ed's Redeeming Qualities, Mojo Nixon, The Shods, Mary Lou Lord, Freezepop, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and yes, the Christmas Chickens), and we'll miss it. (These days, not enough rock clubs are named after pet hamsters, and it's killing the music industry.) Also: We look ahead to Boston Comic Con, learn that mustard belongs in a museum, and suspect that Kevin might be a zombie.

Kevin, Kornflake, and The Mayor have abandoned Chickentown to record this week's show from a secret undisclosed location! But we'll be back in our regular studio next week (the chickens are getting restless), and all will be revealed. This week, however, we're looking back at the 4th of July weekend (which took place in early July, according to scientists). Kevin and The Mayor journeyed west to Minnesota for CONvergence, where they encountered a giant walking milkshake, Disco Boba Fett, bellydancers, Trek Bunnies, rat puppets, Feng Shui Ninjas, School House Rock singalongs, and Buzzed Aldrins in the Skepchick party room. Meanwhile, Kornflake and Doornail headed north to New Hampshire, where they started their own weird new convention called FlopFest. And if you suspect that FlopFest largely consists of flopping in hammocks, giggling, napping, and looking for Vodka... yeah, that just about covers it! Also: It's National Drive-Thru Day, so talk to the clown and keep moving.