The SomethingSomethingCast

I make no apologies for my Steam buying habits. My stepson saw my amount of Steam games and blurted a Holy shit at the number – which at this very moment is a very respectable L33T

“How much money have you spent on video games…”

And where I’m never going to admit to my 15 year old while also trying to hold up the illusion of fiscal responsibility, the fact of the matter is that it isn’t as much as you may think. With very few exceptions I have never spent more than $40 on a game on Steam. The very rare top level title that I’m mega-hyped about like Baldur’s Gate? Sure. But aside from that, I couldn’t find the most recent and my best guess is Saints Row 4 in 2013.

If it’s a top-tier game that I’ve been excited about, I’ll spend $30 on the Game of the Year all DLC edition or a new smaller game I’m excited for. ..but if it’s $10 or below and may be enjoyable? I’ll spend it without question. If it’s a Humble Bundle 10 Games For $20 and I have interest in more than one of them… no brainer.

So let’s look at my last few months of smaller run games.

KING OF THE BRIDGE – You want to get across a bridge, but there’s a troll stopping you. A troll who wants to play chess, but only knows half of the rules and has made up the other half. He won’t tell you those rules until you break them and he’s going to cheat until you learn them.  It’s a short game that doesn’t overstay its welcome, and I’ve already told the developer I want a sequel with how fantastic the idea is.

MIMIC LOGIC – The chest to my left is lying. The chest to my right is lying. The two chests above me, one of them is lying. This chest has 0 mimics. This chest has 2 mimics.  Ok, now, figure out which one to open and not get eaten.  It’s fun, it’s quick, it tickles my logic brain, and it’s easy to pick up and put down except when you get super-frustrated and have to try it one more time.

BALATRO – Out of any of the games on the list, this is probably the one you’ve heard of, A deckbuilder, but with poker hands, but has nothing to do with poker? Unending unlockables for higher and higher tier difficulty layers.  Game combinations that come out of nowhere to make you an unstoppable flush machine? It’s brilliant and deserves its press.

20 SMALL MAZES – I believe this one is free, but it’s charming and easy to play and you understand exactly what it’s trying to do. Get through some mazes. Have fun. Smile. The end.

COGMIND – All of the games on this list have come out in the last few months…. except this one. This is a dungeon crawler roguelike that has been worked on for years upon years. You’re a robot building yourself up and learning the history of the world you keep dying in one lesson at a time. It’s a hard as nails rogue with a whole sci-fi dynamic you don’t often see in the genre and it’s a game that ends, not because you got blown up, but because you tried to hack a terminal, and while running from the security you tempt your luck on a newly constructed hallway that collapses in on you when you run out of energy so you have to ram your head against the wall until you die.  You know.. basic stuff..

So what are you playing?  Sound off in all the places.

A man walks into FBI Headquarters, puts in a meeting request and waits for the guns to be drawn… we are of course talking about the more famous pseudonym of Robert California, none other than Red Reddington in The Blacklist

With the show having just ended last year, we ask ourselves whether the opener still grips you – whether James Spader with his unending smarm charm holds the screen hostage like we always remember he did. Does it hold up? Worth the watch?

Find out as we go down a list of names of those that have wronged us on this week’s The Beginning: The Blacklist

Ok, I remember we would go to this fantastic bistro in Paris, they served a dish that I’ve literally seen a man kill for… here we go!

Full Episode

Hello Somethings, Big Matt here…

A quick take on auditioning for … anything.

So, I sit here and write this blog in between doing auditions for audio book narrations on ACX. There is something fun in this process, but it’s hard place to get to sometimes. The process is basically this: go to ACX, find a few books that you are a fit for, do a recording (your take on the audition script), edit it and process it, and then upload it. Each audition takes about 15 – 20 minutes or so, editing included, and then you wait.

Some responses come within a couple days, but most just sit there. They sit there, and you sit there… just waiting. I have had auditions sit for months before getting a rejection or acceptance.

The process can seem daunting, depressing, etc, but I try to put a good mental spin on it. I look at each one, each audition, as a chance to get to play in the skin of another character, telling another story, being somewhere else. Each audition is another chance to play, and the chance of getting work off of that play time puts it all in a much better perspective.

So, all in all, it really does seem to be all about how you look at these things. Each audition can be a trial, or a chance to play.

Before we get to the episode, we want welcome to the show for the month of March, Big Matt. He’ll be joining us for an event we like to refer to as March Matt-ness!

Now, what are we talking about during this festive time of year where one brings a Matt into your home and offers him episodes of a podcast?  Well we’re starting off with the songs that make movies movie. Is it a song that you can’t connect one without the other? Is it the big hit that was on all the stations that literally says the name of the film in the chorus? Is it written by Bette Midler?  You might have a favorite movie theme song.

So join us as we go through our favorites and get very confused about Bryan Adams.

Ok, here we go.. for the glory of love.

Full Episode

JAAAAACK…. ROOOOOOSE… INEVITABLE HUBRIS OF HUMANITY FOR A CASH-IN SEEEEQUEL!

That’s right. The Titanic is setting sail again, and this time nothing could go wrong! We have technology and hindsight guaranteeing it will be — what? Global warming? Oh, sunuva…

So get below decks and join the Somethings as we journey around the Arctic Circle looking for fun and love in the craziest of places. We’re rich, relatable, and beyond reproach.. everything is gonna be great!

Now let’s light up this cigar and smoke it (something people obviously say all of the time) on 1-Star Movie Review: Titanic 2

Ok, here we go!

Full Episode

Hey there Somethings!  PCR back on his blog ish (as the kids say)

Now, I’m not much into snacks anymore, but when I was, Doritos were my jam.  They’ve come a long way since I was a kid, and there are now a ton of flavors… some good.. some, well.. not so much.  Now, I haven’t tried them all, but from the ones I have, these are my top 5!

5 – Cool Ranch

The first I remember that wasn’t “Doritos Flavored”.  It was different for it’s time, and it’s become ‘classic enough’ that it gets a spot on my list.

4 – Flamin’ Hot Limon

Not gonna lie, I love the combo of spicy and sweet/tart.  There’s enough heat here to make them spicy for sure, but not ‘hot for hot’s sake’.. there’s great flavor there too.

3 – Flamin’ Hot Cool Ranch

While original Cool Ranch managed to crack my Top 5, the Flamin’ Hot version is on another level.  Like Limon but without the tang, the FH versions have a flavor to go with their kick.

2 – Nacho Cheese

The OG.  Still a go-to without a doubt.  When multiple bags are bought for a party or to stock up, there is at least one of these that comes along.

1 – Spicy Sweet Chili

The top of the heap, the current champion… these are the best of the best.  Hot, sweet, spicy, tangy…  if they ever got rid of every other flavor and just called these “Doritos”, I would not at all be mad.

What about you Somethings?  What are YOUR top flavors?  Hit us on the socials and let us know!

-PCR

Another week – another elevator – another big time CEO with a big check – it’s like we’re on a rotating schedule. If only we could go back before….

AND WE CAN! This week, we are pitching movie Prequels – stories before the story – and who is our guest CEO? It’s none other than Gutting The Sacred Cow host, stand-up, and friend of the Somethings, Kevin Gootee 

So hop into your podracer, fire up the Prometheus, or learn why Snakes? why did it have to be snakes, and maybe how they got on that mo’fo’in plane!

It’s time for Elevator Pitch: Prequels

Ok, here we pre-go!

Full Episode

If you weren’t aware, Marvel has dropped their new trailer for X-Men 97′ – a relaunch of the classic Fox Kids cartoon that introduced me to my favorite team of mutants. If you haven’t seen it, take a minute and go watch it, otherwise this makes no sense.

First, I have to give Diz credit – we are obviously moving to the next generation of Marvel Movies with Fantastic Four, Deadpool 3, and an inevitable trip to Graymalkin Lane (that’s where the X-Men live) – and they decided to start this journey with a retro Wolverine or two in Deadpool and a reminder of who the X-Men are at their core. It’s a bold move, Cotton, but it’s going to work. The brilliant thing they did though, is they have made the cartoon look as close to the old animation as they could. In a world of high def television with high refresh rates.. they went out of their way to make a show where you can count the frames. It’s an inspired choice to make old assholes like me feel like a kid again.

I could tell, just from the few shots, that they’re going to do a few specific stories. (At the very least, The Trial of Magneto) But – and this is what is going to make me run to the tv.. as they have proven with WHAT IF… there is a chance that this show is going to tie to the greater Marvel U somehow. Maybe it will have a multiverse clash with X-Men: Evolution. Maybe in the last episode the Time Agents will appear and shut the whole thing down. I don’t know – but for the first time in the last few years of Marvel, I am excited to find out.

Did you check out the trailer, sound off in all the places!

Not all shows are created equal. Some shows are brilliant and stay that way throughout. Others go out into the woods to become lumberjacks.

This week we are taking it to the dark passenger and his damp serial killer, Dexter Morgan. When it all began, was it good? Does it hold up? What did we notice this time that we never noticed before? Lastly, is it worth going back to?

So follow the Somethings down to Miami as we talk The Beginning: Dexter

Ok, here we go!

Full Episode

My favorite news headline of the last few years came out this past week:

Three million malware-infected smart toothbrushes used in Swiss DDoS attacks

Now, depending where you read, there have been some retractions as to whether this actually occurred, but all signs point to ‘yes, it did.’

How? I’ll keep it simple. An object given ‘smart’ capabilities by a company that doesn’t really do tech is likely to not make sure their smart object is future proofed. They aren’t network security experts… they make toothbrushes. The idea of having a toothbrush that bluetooth spreadsheet internet something er another sounds like a great selling point when your bestseller is a molded piece of plastic and some bristles. So, programmers from five years ago built a program on platforms from five years ago with the security knowledge of five years ago… but five years went by and some security hole was found. Do you think your smart toothbrush is getting new firmware?  Probably not.

And this headline is just the beginning. As we allow more and more pointless crap to connect to our wifi, we are adding more and more points of weakness to our home’s security. With a little knowhow it can be secured, but not everyone has a little knowhow.. all they know is they have a remote control ball they can bounce around their house from an app on their phone to fuck with their cat, or that their fridge texts them when the ice tray is frozen. They aren’t aware that their data can be piggybacked or a port can be left open or a password reset can be faked.

So please, look at this headline and laugh… because it’s truly f’n funny, but, please, for the love of dot, when your wifi smart toilet that posts a gif every time you shit using an AI algorithm so that the image relates to the consistency of your movement, just make sure you have a firewall configured.

What smart objects are taking over your household? Sound off in all the places.