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September 17, 2005
Podcast Reviews
I had casually mentioned podcasting previously here, my notice unwittingly serving as a sort of dark prophecy to my current addiction to the medium. I mostly blame Apple Computer, with their penchant for making certain technologies easily available, enabling all podcasts to come to me via iTunes instead of the sort of virtual safari I had employed in the past to collect that wonderful audible content. I realized my own complacency had reached new heights when I discovered that I was avoiding this fantastic new form of entertainment simply because I was too lazy to download it myself.
Since I have gleaned such an abundance of entertainment from the world of podcasting I thought I would do a little write up of my favorite three to encourage the lot of you to support these fine programs for, without them, my work day will be again plunged into darkness. For those of you not in the know, podcasting is like talk radio if you removed all the crazy right-wing politics, unintelligent callers, commercials and uninteresting subject matter. It is syndicated over the internet via RSS feeds and iTunes enabling you to download and listen to episodes at your leisure. It got the name podcasting because many people were loading the downloaded audio files onto their iPods so instead of broadcasting it was podcasting. Yes, I know it's pretty lame but I used to make fun of the word 'blog' and well, here we are.
Without further or do my top three favorite podcasts:
3. 'Geek Fu Action Grip' (iTunes Link) by Mur Lafferty
iTunes Description: 'Reviews, essays, and rants from a gamer, fangirl, writer and mommy, all in one.'
From the surface everything points to suck when dealing with Geek-Fu, the name is kinda campy, her logo screams of early 90's clip art and she's a mom?! Besides her self-proclaimed categorization as a 'geek' it looked as though I would have absolutely nothing in common with her. I probably wouldn't even have given Mur's show a chance if it wasn't for the glowing review it got on Penny Arcade. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised.
In every half-hour show Mur packs in her thoughts on the current news that interests her, what she is up to and reads an interesting original essay to boot. The remainder of my podcasts all have multiple hosts but Mur on her own is compelling enough to hold my interest. My only qualm with the show is that it is once-weekly and a paltry 30 minutes long. Just when I'm getting into each episode, it's over and I have to wait another seven days for my fix. Mur proves that you don't have to be a tool nor give up your interests when you become a parent. She still writes for White Wolf, still plays WoW, still watches sci-fi movies/television all while being a responsible mom (the episode she records in the car with her daughter on the way to the store is priceless). Geek-Fu action grip is definitely one to check out.
2. 'Gamers Daily' (iTunes Link) by TopaZ
iTunes Description: Daily Gaming Podcast and Free Video Reviews of Games
The above dry description of this podcast betrays it's professional quality and potent entertainment value. Each show is hosted by TopaZ, an intelligent and actual gamer, not some whore being paid by Gamespot/1UP/IGN/EA to give good reviews to games that are really terrible, as well as a myriad of assorted co-hosts (my personal favorite is 'The Fold').
Where some podcasts tend to ramble and get off topic Gamer's Daily moves right along and covers all the relevant news in the gaming community. It is evident that a lot of planning is done before each show as well as professional editing at the end. This keeps the energy level up and the amount of filler down. On top of all this you are provided with reviews that can actually be trusted; TopaZ and company will go through the strengths and weaknesses of a game and whether or not its worth a purchase now or later when the title is in the bargain bin. In addition to all of this, at the end of each show out-takes are played from the recording process to add a little humor to the mix. But perhaps the greatest attribute of Gamer's Daily is explicated in it's title: Daily. Every morning when I wake up there's another episode waiting for me to enjoy over breakfast so I can catch up on all the news I care about. Massive props to TopaZ for putting together such an excellent program, keep up the great work, I'll be listening.
1. 'GeeksOn' (iTunes Link) by Aaron Hendricks, Donald Marshall, Matt Yang King and Peter Robinson
iTunes Description: Weekly show created by geeks for geeks covering topics geeks like to talk about. Movies, Video Games, Sci-Fi. RPG's, Board Games, Books, Television, Comics, Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and much much more.
Though I have such great affection for the two aforementioned podcasts neither one of them can even hold a candle to this fantastic program. Just to give you a little insight into the depth of my fondness for GeeksOn: this week I listened to nearly ALL their past programs in anticipation for Friday's download. Fanboy? Yes.
Part of the draw to podcasting is that it is decidedly amateur and campy. Anyone with an internet connection, computer microphone and free recording software can do it and I have waded through the vast marshy wastes of many a terrible program in search of something that is even nominally entertaining. Since I have the privilege of working out of home and cannot tolerate commercial radio I need something to listen to in order to pass the time so even the crappiest of podcasts will inhabit iTunes for a while in order to get me through the work day. That is why when you stumble upon something as fantastic as GeeksOn you can hardly believe it. Excellent production value? Engaging hosts? Intelligent conversation? Unfathomable nerdiness? Bereft of all sensationalist subject matter? Shouldn't they be getting paid for this?
The answer to all those preceding questions is yes.
The cast of GeeksOn are four geeks from Los Angeles/Hollywood: Aaron, Don, Matt and Peter (and yes you two sound EXACTLY alike, I didn't know there were four hosts til only recently) who are all in some way involved in the entertainment industry. Each hour and a half show consists of unedited conversation between a group of very interesting people; you feel as though you are involved in the conversation and sometimes I catch myself yelling out responses when I disagree or laughing along with them over a particularly pithy quip. These guys are total geeks but not tools, something that is quite difficult to pull off. Let me explain...
Each one of them has strong and well reasoned opinions that at times clash, but instead of becoming offended and turning the situation into an argument they respect each other's opinions and (gasp!) are able to admit when their wrong. There is no better example of this than during their latest show when the subject of intelligent design came up, instead of simply bashing one side and unequivocally embracing the other they talked about both the strengths and weaknesses of each side and debated intelligently over points of contention. Never once was anyone's opinion (whether present or absent) belittled.
RANT: I'm that rare breed of person who calls himself a Christian and believes the earth was created by a higher power, but is billions of years old, that evolution is true and Creationism has no place in the public school system. I think intelligent design should be taught but that we shouldn't automatically assume that the power behind it must be the traditional God of Theism but that it could encompass anything else, including the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Science is for classrooms; Jesus is for Church.
As C.S. Lewis said, if you tear down the walls of a house and study its foundations you will find no physical scientific evidence of the architect. Simply by its existence can we prove that there must have been a builder behind it. The same goes for God, we aren't going to prove he is real through a bunch of equations or by scientific investigation into the physical properties of the earth; we can see the evidence for his existence in the inherent design of it and therefore a majority of our belief in him comes through faith, not absolute scientific assuredness. So how can you make the jump from believing this creator God and Jesus are one in the same? I don't have time for that right now but if enough of you comment and want me to take the time and fully explicate my arguments than I would be happy to./RANT
Right, back to GeeksOn...
See? This is sort the of intelligent discourse that follows in the wake of each show, it leaves the mind stimulated and feeling rather electric. In addition to all that serious stuff there is plenty of nerdy content like overanalyzing sci-fi movies, video games, and popular plot-lines (these guys are all undoubtedly fantastic writers). If that hasn't peaked your interest listen just to see Aaron flip out and Don patronize him afterwards, it's comedic gold. There's a lot of passion behind this program and I give it my highest recommendation, these guys should take over Howard Stern's spot in the morning once he goes to satellite. Though I have absolutely no credentials for the following claim other than being a golden demographic consumer, these guys are gonna be big one day, they're just too smart, entertaining and likable not to be. Go listen now!
Oh there is one bad thing about GeeksOn: the merchandise. I desperately want to support them financially but can't bring myself to pay for any of their stuff. If the cast wants some help in that arena I would be more than happy lend some of my design prowess, pro-bono of course. ;)
Posted by Jon at September 17, 2005 02:29 PM