The noise Aura makes of a guy running through horses was one of the funniest things on the podcast ever!
Welcome geekdad! It’s great that you’ve gotten your 14 year-old into the mix here. My 14 year-old is as well, and has even called in once or twice and spoken with the Crue. Looking forward to hearing and reading your insights, opinions, and observations. 
Welcome aboard. Please close the airlock behind you. 
LOL. I watched a local broadcast of Arnie re the Hollywood sign the other day, and had watched “Conan The Destroyer” the night before. I kept picturing him with a broadsword and long hair. Surrounded by politicians and sporting a snazzy suit.
WHEEL… OF… PAIN!!!
“Hello, and welcome to Wheel of Pain, the kingdom’s favorite game show. Returning is our champion, King of Thieves, Conan the… is it Barbarian or Destroyer now? [Audience laughs] Anyhow, Conan, your first question: What is best in life?”
…
Welcome, Geekdad!
Also, thanks to those of you who’ve asked… Ferris Family Theater will return.
In a room filled with press agents, Conan the Governor approaches the podium.
Conan reaches for a drumstick from the banquet, tears into it and slowly chews as grease drips down his glistening forearm. Conan eyes the foray of anticipating reporters. He throws the drumstick at one of them and grunts, “You. What iz your qwestion?”
A bit dazed, the reporter recovers quickly and asks, “Conan, what is your position on Federal Health Care Reform?”
Conan glares at the reporter and raises his broadsword. “Steel.”
Under the gaze of Conan, the reporter tries to avoid wetting himself. He clears his throat nervously, “Excuse me?”
Conan roars, “Steel!!” The room is silent. Conan sighs and begins, “Fire and wind come from the sky, from the gods of the sky. But Crom is my god, Crom and he lives in the earth. Once, giants lived in the Earth. And in the darkness of chaos, they fooled Crom, and they took from him the enigma of steel. Crom was angered. And the Earth shook. Fire and wind struck down these giants, and they threw their bodies into the waters, but in their rage, the gods forgot the secret of steel and left it on the battlefield. We who found it are just men. Not gods. Not giants. Just men. The secret of steel has always carried with it a mystery. You must learn its riddle. You must learn its discipline. For no one - no one in this world can you trust. Not men, not women, not beasts.”
Blank faces surround Conan. Conan kicks the podium away and charges toward the reporter whom asked the question. Conan thrusts his sword into the man and raises him above the onlookers. “You are weak. This iz what iz done to the weak.”
Conan drops the limp body of the reporter to the ground, turns and heads back to the stage. He grabs another slab of meat, “Next qwestion.”
fraggledance WooHoo!!
What Na’vi constumes might look like.
Im simultaneously amused and terrified. Does the english language have a word for this?
Smurfy Shore?
I forget if I posted it here on the Twitters: Apparently, Pee Wee Herman (P.W. Herman) is going to voice Brainy Smurf in the new Smurfs movie.
I always enjoyed watching Xena back in the 90’s,
while i was still young. I always thought that the Xena & Calisto ladder fight scene
//youtu.be/Fa35zwWrxp4
was a tip of the hat to the legendary fight scene between Jet Li & Donnie Yen in Once Upon a Time in China II
Blue Man Group really lets themselves go after a hard night partying.
Tobias!! I miss you so much it hurts! sob
I finally got around to listening to the second half of the 'cast.
Chuck mentioned the reel that’s been floating around the net for a while now from Stargate Studios, showing just how many of the shows we watch use green-screen effects where we don’t notice them. Here’s the vid (crosses fingers for successful youtube link):
Also: the subject came up of whether any other shows would get away with a same-sex relationship, implied or portrayed, on other tv shows at the time. Just wanted to point out the Willow/Tara (and later Willow/Kennedy) relationships on Buffy, as early as 1999, contemporary w/Xena. Yes, it was also genre tv, but fairly popular genre tv.
How about Billy Crystal’s character on the sitcom “Soap” ? That was in the 70’s. I dont think he had a full time character as a partner, but he was definitely out-of-the-closet and his lifestyle was an important part of the plot.
Anyone else here remember that show?
Billy Crystal’s character was significant, as was Tony Randall’s character in Love, Sydney. But homosexuality, like race, was treated in a “wink wink, nudge nudge” OTT manner in Soap, with plenty of stereotypical humor. And Billy Crystal’s character was dumped from a–secret–relationship at the beginning of the show; I don’t think he had another relationship until he fell in love with a woman at the end. I brought up Willow/Tara specifically b/c they had such a stable, supportive relationship that was treated by their friends as just another relationship and nothing different or unique.
Wasn’t there also a plot line where Jodie Dallas tried to adopt or is the main care giver of a baby? That also was surprisingly progressive for the time (or is it just a sign of how slow we’re making progress).
That is quite likely, Sam Rami is a rabid fan of martial arts movies. He often said they were the inspiration for his ‘The Adventures of Hercules’ movies, which spawned the series.
Cool vid! I’ve been meaning to comment on the whole green screen thing, I don’t know how well it’s known in the US, but the film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow was entirely filmed in a green studio in central London, with every set and many props put in using CGI.
Really good fun film as well, very much a pastiche of the RKO serials and has a kind of ‘30’s steampunk’ vibe to it. We have giant robots, ray guns, cool high tech antique equipment and Angelina Jolie being sexy and cool as only she can.
Highly recommended!
The other one that comes to mind is Ivanova and Talia from season 2 of Babylon 5. Slightly odd in that it’s never explicitly stated what’s happening, not to mention they never actually get together. But it was probably more obvious than Xena.