Hola, Sneakers. Welcome to Episode 471 of the podcast that was built to last…until Episode 470, so whoops!
This week: hip-hop start; foiled dinghy rant; trunnels and other amusing nautical terms; heavy metal thunder; farewell, Richard Corben; a weekly dose; Grogoo vs. Gorgo; prequel costumes; Star Wars avalanche; old man ass kicking; milk averse; coffee, tea or meh; milking it; making the Fantastic Four good; Maude Eisley; unexpected show time; sacrificial computer; truly drunk history; cavalier vs. puritan; Roman Empire Loyalist; Dave’s bookstore finds; B.D. corner; occult Spider-man; Question of the Week – Sneakers respond; a lot of crocodiles; octopus manholes; Metroid conversion; cornered; 95% hot dog; fucking Gen. MacArthur; angry bladder; Happiest Season; and, finally, Dave has a question for you?
Thanks for listening.
Question of the week: How have your holidays changed in the new now?
Sub-question of the week: Have you ever built something big and impressive?
Sub-sub-question of the week: Cavalier or puritan?
We received some wonderful concept art for Ian and David’s forthcoming big-time self-help [themselves to your money] cult!
First, from our friend from Down Under, Mick Elliott:
And we also have our friend Louise’s more sinister version – ready for branding, she says:
Thanks to you both!
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My favourite nautical term is “forecastle” because the traditional way to pronounce it is “foh’k’sil.” It would be fun if we pronounced other “fore” words that way, such as foh’pl’y and foh’sk’n.
It’s just going to be me, my mom and my sister at Christmas this year, although I think we’re still going to cook a full turkey dinner for our cousins and their families to pick up and take home to eat. We usually go to a Christmas Eve candlelight and carol service at my mom’s church so we’ll probably watch one online.
Something big and impressive I designed and helped to build was a set for our high school production of The Imaginary Invalid by Moliere. (Moliere died performing the title role so maybe it wasn’t all in his imagination.) Of course I would rather be a cavalier. Who’d want to be a puritan, especially if you’re a woman? One cow’s udder dries up on your neighbour’s farm and suddenly you’re hanged for being a witch. Actually, I dressed in a rather cavalier style in that play since it is set in the same time period.
Just popping in to say that Puritan is so obviously the wrong choice. Maybe the kids in your class hated having to read Shakespeare and enjoyed the thought of banning his plays. Just imagine if they had to read puritain texts instead of Shakespeare, everyone would quickly side with the cavaliers.
My family will have to be very careful during the next few weeks since my Mom has just had surgery and is a bit vulnerable right now. I’m sure we’ll be keeping the gathering to a minimum if we go over to my folks’ house and not try to overdo it. I think if it were up to my Dad, he’s tell everyone to stay home, but my Mom will just sit and cry all day if she doesn’t see her grandkids on Christmas Day.
I don’t really build stuff and I’m not really that much of a craftsman, but I’ve decked the entire attic in every house I’ve owned! I also build shelves in my garage right after moving in.
Cavalier!! The Puritans lived next door when I was a kid.
The Fantastic Four are near and dear to my heart, they were the first comics I was really serious about collecting. Before I take over the MCU and list my prerequisites for a Fantastic Four film from Marvel Studios, I’ll agree with you guys on two things you nailed about going forward with this film. Kirby-esque machines and cosmic landscapes are a must, almost to the point of making them gratuitous and overwhelming…just a bunch of chunky workhorse machinery with no beginning or end as a backdrop. Focus on their family centric relationship, I think this is what makes the Fantastic Four relatable and interesting….almost as close knit as the Guardians of the Galaxy are with one another. Their traits are almost as repellant towards one another but it’s the kind of thing that they shouldn’t get along but they do. Reed should almost be like Stark in a way but without the cocky playboy attitude, but he should always know that he’s the smartest guy in the room. Ben shouldn’t be a tragic figure because of how he looks, but instead be the smart ass of the group…and yes, throw in the Yancy Street Gang for good measure. There should be some story about Ben wanting Reed to make him normal but until it happens he makes being the Thing work for him, maybe to the point that when Reed does figure it out, Ben is almost fine with who he’s become. Johnny needs to be the carefree youth of the group, connecting with the young fans and racing cars. The bickering with Ben is a must, Johnny and Ben should get on each other’s nerves but realize over time they really need one another. And Sue is the heart of the group, the voice of reason and the one that makes peace when the other three aren’t getting along. Also make Sue very powerful as a way of self discovery as she learns to use her powers in creative ways. Get all this right for their characters before they even start to focus on their powers. You were also 100% correct that The Fantastic Four are adventurers, in fact they used to be categorized as such in those old Marvel Universe Comic Indexes. They’re intrigued by places no human has ever gone before, more so than fighting bad guys.
My spin on all this would be where they’re from. I think that there’s some nice vacancies in the MCU timeline where we could stick the FF back in the 60’s or 70’s. That era would really nail the Kirby essence that built the FF in the first place. Since time travel is a thing now and it looks like the third Ant-Man & Wasp film is a time travel story with Kang the Conqueror, figure out a way to bring the Fantastic Four to present time. The four of them out of time could be fun and there could be some recollection of them “missing’ in the past which explains their travel to our present. And lastly, DO NOT BRING DOCTOR DOOM INTO THE STORY RIGHT AWAY! Hint at his character and build it over time much like they did Thanos before, Doom is too important of a character to just drop in as the showcased villain in one film. Make Doom almost an elegant, dignified and charismatic ruler of Latveria with designs on becoming a powerful and formidable figure of the world. And for Christ’s sake, make him European. Make him sound like Klytus in Flash Gordon.
I really hope they hit a grand slam with this one, just stick to the fundamentals of their characters. I did enjoy the Tim Story Fantastic Four films very much, I thought they got the chemistry between the four of them very well. It was Doom that was somewhat bothersome to me, being woven into their origin and all. I had good experiences with those two films because I was able to take my son to them at an early age, The Dark Knight and Hulk were a little too much for a my son and to this day he remembers seeing them with me. I’m glad they picked the FF to be the family friendly alternative of superhero films at the time.
The Josh Trank Fantastic Four film five years ago was a dumpster fire of dead hookers.
The town I grew up in was full of Puritans! Or at least phonies who fancied themselves as Puritans. Lots of judgmental folks and holier than thou shit going on in the town of Mesquite, Texas while I was growing up. Being otherwise almost forced me into being Cavalier by default, but I must confess I never defined myself as one back in those days. It’s an interesting way to look back on it all.