Pockets of Sanity

Pockets of Sanity Podcast 002

In this week's installment, Wesley Snipes' tax problems are briefly discussed with absolutely no depth or insight whatsoever.  Then your smarmy jerkface host also takes your phone calls.

Download pockets_of_sanity_podcast_002.mp3 (6.64 MB; 7m 16s)

EPISODE 2 SHOW NOTES

Host: Chuck Dowling

Intro Music: Not Your Enemy by Megaphone

Related Links:
"What does it take to change the essence of a man?"
Snipes gets 3 years, apologizes for 'costly mistakes'

Call the show!  Leave your voicemail message: 1-206-339-6063

Or, email your questions/comments!

The GTAIV Madness is Upon Us

Tomorrow sees the release of the latest installment of the Grand Theft Auto series.  Yesterday the press embargo was lifted on a ton of gameplay footage, and the most intriguing feature to me so far looks to be the way your character interacts with alcohol.  In short, alcohol messes you up.  See the video above for an example.

Now I happen to think this is actually a positive thing in the game, showing the appropriate effects of excessive alcohol consumption.  But you know it won't be long before someone busts out the "Won't someone think of the children?!" business and equates this game to encouraging alcohol abuse.

Pockets of Sanity Video Podcast 001

Sorry that this has turned out to be Podcast Week, but there's a lot to talk about.

I think I'll be podcasting once a week at most, probably every Wednesday.  But then on Thursdays I'm going to publish a special visual version of the podcast, for those of you unable to sit still and just listen while staring at nothing.

So here you go.  Enjoy the enhanced episode!

Download posvideopodcast1.mp4

Pockets of Sanity Podcast 001

Well, it's ready!  I am quite pleased to present the very first episode of the Pockets of Sanity podcast!  In this historic, inaugural episode, yours truly talks about the perception of the male and female body in movies and television, and gets a couple of "other" calls as well.

Please feel free to leave any suggestions or comments here in the comments section.  Continue reading after the break for the totally exciting show notes.  Enjoy!

Download pockets_of_sanity_podcast_001.mp3 (9.72 MB; 10m37s)

EPISODE 1 SHOW NOTES

Host: Chuck Dowling

Intro music: Not Your Enemy by Megaphone

Related links:
Survey finds what women really want in Mr. Right

Calls Flooding In, Join the Fun!

The Pockets of Sanity podcast seems to be coming along nicely, which is surprising.  But I still need you!

Come on folks, don't be shy.  Call the Pockets of Sanity voicemail line: 1-206-339-6063.  Leave a comment, ask a question, say anything you like.  You can be as anonymous as you want to be.

And if you're seriously that shy that you can't call in anonymously, feel free to email your question.

I hope to have the first show up and running by the end of the week.  Be a part of it!

Okay Let's Give It a Go

I realized that once again I expressed my desire to podcast and yet totally backed down from it for no good reason.

So here's what we're going to do.  I'm going to put matters squarely into your hands.  You have the power to enable me to live my lifelong dream of podcasting or to let it crash and burn, leaving me a hopeless, worthless shell of my former self.

I have a service set up that converts voice mail to audio files (you know, for easy editing).  This is where you come in, dear readers.  Call this phone number: 1-206-339-6063.  Leave me a voice message.  Ask me a question, give me a topic, leave a comment, anything.  Just make it interesting.  You don't have to identify yourself if you don't want to.

And if you're going to disguise your voice and make something up, that's fine.  Just make it through the call without laughing or giving yourself away.  I don't care.  Anything that gets the ball rolling here.

When I get a good number of calls, I'll put together a show and we'll see what happens.

Don't let me down folks.  Speak up, speak clearly, and well... please just call.

Captain Trips, Dan Savage and the Pod People

Sorry I haven't written lately, but I'm currently battling the deadly bronchitis again and haven't felt much up to posting anything.  Not even a video.

This scourge started as an allergy attack after all the dust and junk we kicked up last weekend when we started getting furniture and other assorted stuff ready to move into a POD, one of those giant storage device things that a truck drops off in your driveway and then picks up later once you fill it.  It's a big shed basically.

Well we live in a somewhat goofy neighborhood, and apparently one of our neighbors got a little goofy on goofy juice and decided that our storage bin was some sort of Salvation Army drop off point.  And so one day last week we discovered a bag that had been placed in front of our POD that contained a rather odd assortment of items like a coffee mug, some giant stretch pants and an equally giant bra.  Charming.

Speaking of pods, over the last month I've started getting into the world of podcasting.  During the two months I spent moving out of my apartment I listened to my iPod incessantly, and got a little tired of the tunes.  So I was looking for something else to listen to on my now doubled commute to work every day.

So far I've stuck fairly close to my wheelhouse.  I've been listening to a good selection of video game podcasts, including the Joystiq podcast, EGM Live, 1up Yours, Retronauts and The Sports Anomaly.  I may be dropping that last one though.  While I like the guys who run it and have warmed to their rather insane banter, there's just way too much real-world hockey and basketball talk for my taste.

Recently though on a recommendation I ventured out of my video game shell and subscribed to the Savage Love podcast, which as it turns out is a rather explicit sex-help call-in show.  People call into a voice mail service with their crazy sex questions, and then sexologist Dan Savage calls them back and makes them feel somewhat silly as bluntly as possible.  It's fabulous.  And okay, it's not outside my wheelhouse at all.

One day, if I ever get more than two readers, I'm going to do my own podcast.  I swear it.

An Absolute Lack of News Content

A growing trend in the media today is featuring news stories that seem to be completely devoid of any useful information whatsoever.  Take this story for example.  It seems as though people out there are having sex with their friends!  On college campuses no less!  Friends... with benefits!  Oh noes!

And as a result of this friend sex, some of them stop being friends, some of them get romantically involved, some of them just stop having sex, and some of them keep on getting their freak on.  I am shocked.  And outraged.

Mmmm, Gerber Burrito...

Struggling with the Mist

Last night I watched Stephen King's The Mist on DVD, and this morning I am still attempting to come to a conclusion as to how I feel about it.

There are a great many things that I loved about this film.  I loved how quiet the film was.  The use of music was kept to a bare minimum, and there were no artifical music cue scares.  Although there is a piece of music used at the end of the film, Dead Can Dance's The Host of Seraphim, that fits amazingly well with what's going on (it's very similar to how well Moby's My Weakness was used during the finale of the X-Files episode Closure).

The performances were top-notch as well, with specific mention definitely going to Thomas Jane as the movie's lead David Dreyton.  There's a well-written moment early in the film where the characters deal with the aftermath of someone being dragged away and eaten by the previously unseen monsters, and Jane's performance is 100% believable.  It's the kind of little emotional moment that lesser actors might overdo.  His acting during the finale is also excellent and again entirely credible.

Almost too credible though, and the ending is specifically what I want to talk about.  I'll do it after the break though.  Spoilers ahead!