Opinions May Vary

I'm not gonna lie: I almost completely forgot to upload this...and the streak was almost ruined.

BUT I REMEMBERED. MAYBE AT THE LAST MINUTE, YEAH...BUT I REMEMBERED.

Anyways. This episode was kind of inevitable. It's tradition for Will to join us at least once during the month of October to talk spoopy things and this year was no different. And we're talking about Stranger Things.

So.

This one gets a bit spoiler heavy so if you're that one person that hasn't watched Stranger Things yet you should remedy that then have a listen to our weekly chat. Unless you dig spoilers. In which case this episode is perfect for you. 

Either way. Stranger Things is incredible (did you catch the contest we had on Facebook a while back? Exactly) and this week we're talking about it. 

-Jr.

Direct download: 10.4.2016_Episode_240.mp3
Category:Comics Movies & Videogames -- posted at: 10:12pm EDT
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I can't remember if it was Bob Ross who coined the term "happy accident" but for now I'm gonna go ahead and say it was.

This episode could be considered one of those happy accidents. In the best way...because a few times now we've seen this great Tony Stark cosplayer tearing through Boston Comic Con. His outfit consists of maybe some boots, maybe some gauntlets, some sunglasses, and that sweet case of armor from Iron Man 2. To put it bluntly, it's awesome. The handful of times we've been able to talk to him were great and it was evident he was a rad dude so obviously we were going to try to get him on the show.

Cut to Alex doing his thing and hunting the internet for contact info when he stumbles upon his Facebook page and what does he see? It turns out this guy is HUGE into the haunt life and has been working at various haunts for more years than I can count. So initially we sent out to have him on the show because of his spot-on Tony Stark...and found out that we could potentially have a new guest for our month of Spooky.

You see? Happy accidents.

-Jr.

Direct download: 10.4.2016_Episode_239.mp3
Category:Comics Movies & Videogames -- posted at: 4:29pm EDT
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UPDATE: Sad news folks:

"Due to unforeseen circumstance, The Only Scream CT has unfortunately closed for the 2016 haunt season. We plan to reopen next year, and trust us, we’ll be back with a vengeance!

In the meantime, we have partnered with our friends over at Creeperum in Hamden, CT to bring you a special offer and make sure you can still get your frights in this season. Use Code: “scare18” when you check out on their website and receive a nice discount as our thanks for all the support you have given us"

Get out there and support your local haunt!

 

Here at OMV the month of October has become synonymous with recording episodes with our friends who like spooky things. Seeing as Alex spends a good chunk of his month making monsters at our local haunt, it proves very difficult to not immediately get into that Halloween feel. So we embrace it. We cherish it. We nurture it until it is a fully grown and hideous demon spawn and then we record a podcast about it.

And our friends join us.

This week it's Kyle and Noah. You might remember Kyle as he's chilled with us a few times in the past to talk about his gig at Decimated Designs and while Noah may be new to OMV....he's definitely no stranger to the haunt life. Between the three of them Kyle, Noah, and Alex combine to over 20 years of spooky experience and being able to just sit back and watch them go was truly astonishing. And now you get to listen to it while I go prep for our New York Comic Con excursion tomorrow.

Neat!

-Jr.

 

Direct download: 9.14.2016_Episode_238.mp3
Category:Comics Movies & Videogames -- posted at: 3:25pm EDT
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When it comes to conventions I frequently rely on Alex for continuous hand holding. Unless we're at one of the enormous, in-your-face oh my god I'm so overwhelmed with amazing things shows like NYCC or PAX....I tend to get a bit lost and I overlook all of the awesome things I should be paying attention to.

Last summer when we went to MASSive Comic Con in Worcester I was starting to slip into that mode. It was a smaller show, it was a Sunday, there weren't a lot of people there and there wasn't a whole lot going on. Luckily I have Alex. You see, Alex is smart and does research on things and knows who is going to be at the shows he's attending......like artist/writer Keith Champagne. Alex had visited Keith at a prior show and was aware of his work and how chill of a guy he is. I, with no reason to argue, followed Alex to his table and did my usual hover routine while he struck up conversation.

A half hour and many dollars later we left his table with merchandise in hand (including 3 pages of original art and two hardcovers) and yet another fantastic interaction to brag about.

I guarantee you if I didn't have Alex with me I would have done one lap through the show and gone home. I would have never met Keith, I wouldn't have read The Mighty (which was so good), and we wouldn't have a guest on the show this week.

The thought of all of that is just tragic. Alex....what would I do without you?

-Jr.

Direct download: 9.29.2016_Episode_237.mp3
Category:Comics Movies & Videogames -- posted at: 11:44am EDT
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While wandering around the aisles of the Boston Comic Con last month I saw my partner in podcasting crime engaged in what looked to be a hearty conversation full of wonder and laughs. As I made my approach Alex noticed me and eagerly invited me to join in. I believe his exact words were something like "HEY. LOOK WHO IT IS!"

It was our pal Israel from Skelton Crew Studios. After exchanging the usual pleasantries Israel started to hint that there were big things on the horizon for him and The Crew. This resulted in the exchanging of the usual obscenities (all from me) and desperate attempts to coax out whatever secrets he was hiding. But alas. His resolve proved to be unmatched.

But that was last month. Time has passed. Contracts have been signed. New collectibles are coming. And Israel joined us this week to give us the 4-1-1 on some of them.

My wallet is already aching in the best way.

-Jr.

Direct download: 9.22.2016_Episode_236.mp3
Category:Comics Movies & Videogames -- posted at: 3:05pm EDT
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My computer was determined to stop this episode from happening. First I was almost late getting to Alex's place because of an update that held up my laptop from shutting down. Then during setup it had to then install said update.

Which took over an hour.

It even gave me the fantastic message of "Do not turn off your computer. This will take a while." Thanks for the heads up, laptop.

Lucky for us our guest this week was super patient and had no problem engaging in some casual bullshitting while we waited for my computer to finish pooping its metaphorical pants. We've mentioned our pal Kirby a few times in the past. He's another employee of the Boston Comic Con and while that's rad he's also a journeyman who loves to travel to conventions all over the country.

So we talked about that. And it was good.

-Jr.

Direct download: 9.17.2016_Episode_235.mp3
Category:Comics Movies & Videogames -- posted at: 11:32pm EDT
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I've spent almost the entirety of my day working on a campaign for an upcoming D&D game which is extremely fitting given the episode we have for you this week.

You see, I've done little to hide my admiration for everyone over at Penny Arcade. I've mentioned that website in some way, shape or form dozens of times during our tenure not to mention the three years of PAX that I can't seem to shut up about. To put it bluntly: They just do neat shit.

An example of their neat shit: How about playing D&D in front of thousands of people multiple times a year? How about expanding that game into a 12 part mini-series on YouTube that was concluded in front of a packed symphony hall and streamed in movie theaters across the country? Not quite enough? How about we add guest stars like Wil Wheaton, Morgan Webb, and Patrick Rothfuss and games that are run by Chris Perkins himself. I mean come on.

That's some neat shit.

At the end of the day shit like that doesn't just come together on its own. Someone has to plan, organize, and execute months in advance so we can all sit down and watch five people play Dungeons & Dragons for 3 hours. The man behind the curtain....the unsung hero goes by the name of Jeff Kalles. He's the Senior Sales Manager at Penny Arcade but as you'll hear during our chat that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of all that he does.

Mere days after putting on quite possibly the largest live D&D show ever Jeff was kind enough to Skype in so we could learn about everything that goes into the role playing phenomenon that is Acquisitions Incorporated.

And good lord was it some neat shit.

-Jr.

 

Direct download: 9.8.2016_Episode_234.mp3
Category:Comics Movies & Videogames -- posted at: 10:42pm EDT
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Watching the live feed from PAX West is really killing any productivity I had when I began uploading this episode...

BUT WE BACK. AND WE GOT AN EPISODE FOR YOU.

This week we're joined by fellow steampunkers/hobbyists/all around awesome people Katie and Brendan of Redfield Designs. Some of our listeners may find that name sounds familiar....that's probably because it's been mentioned on our show pretty much every time we talk about The Steampunk World's Fair or other related events. You may have even seen the fabulous Brett Kelley rocking his custom made Redfield Design three piece suit. (It's the one that almost made you pass out because he looked so damn good in it)

They're also both members of the infamous Red Fork Empire. Remember when we talked with The Emperor a few months back? No? Go ahead and have a listen. We'll be here when you get back.

Join us this week for some chatter about enormous space marines, my struggles with sewing machines, and the Oscar count for Mad Max: Fury Road.

Enjoy!

-Jr.

Direct download: 9.2.2016_Episode_233.mp3
Category:Comics Movies & Videogames -- posted at: 7:58pm EDT
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Way back....like wayyyyy back when OMV was in its infancy we tried to be the news podcast that would cover movies/comics/video games. We'd scour the internet looking for the latest headlines and stories to offer our opinions on and while that format didn't last very long (thankfully) one of the sites that we'd always rely on was the one called Topless Robot.

Even before we started doing the show Alex would frequently hit me up with links and articles he figured I would find interesting. In a sea of "geek blogs" re-posting all of the same stories with the same press releases Topless Robot was a breath of fresh air that wasn't just the standard "BREAKING: SOMETHING HAPPENED. MORE DETAILS TO COME". It was more "Hey. This happened. Here's an opinion on it that's both humorous and informative."

There was also fan fiction. And not really the kind of fan fiction you'd expect...or maybe it was the exact kind of fan fiction you'd expect....either way just listen to the episode and all will be explained.

Founded by Rob Bricken in 2007-2008, Topless Robot was his baby until 2012 when he took a gig at the insanely popular site io9 and since then he has moved up to the role of Editor. With a monthly readership in the millions....it sounds like it's equal parts terrifying and amazing. I mean..I get excited when our episodes hit triple digits...I can't even begin to imagine hitting seven of them. All the time. And getting paid actual money to do it.

Sadly if you were to visit www.toplessrobot.com right now you'd find that under the new management it got a bit of a facelift and hasn't had new content posted since December of last year. Bummer. Luckily Rob is still cranking out material over at io9 for us to enjoy and the Topless Robot archives are still intact for those looking to re-live some old geek nostalgia.

Enjoy!

-Jr.

Direct download: 8.24.2016_Episode_232.mp3
Category:Comics Movies & Videogames -- posted at: 2:13pm EDT
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Hey all,

Just Alex and me this week telling tales of our trip to Boston last weekend for the 2016 Boston Comic Con. We only went for one day but we somehow managed to fill an entire episode with just the two of us...I can't really tell if that's a good or bad thing...for now I'll say it's good and start arguments with anyone who disagrees with me. That's the right way to do it, yeah?

Anyways. We've been talking about BCC a lot these days. So to some this might bring a bit of closure to our weeks of anticipatory statements.

Also. MAN was it hot last weekend or what?

-Jr.

Direct download: 8.19.2016_Episode_231.mp3
Category:Comics Movies & Videogames -- posted at: 7:32pm EDT
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