It's easy for me to get defensive when it comes to reading negative reviews of PAX. It's my favorite show and it's easily the thing I look forward to the most every year. I'll admit it: I'm biased as hell. And really the negative reviews seem to be few and far between and almost everyone I've talked to said they had yet another year of great times. But there's one thing that I see every now and then that bugs the hell out of me.

"PAX was boring."

I don't get it. I can't help but think "were you at the same PAX I was?" because with everything that's available to you over the course of three days I find it very hard to believe that "boring" is a proper adjective to describe the show. I have a theory, though. It's pretty simple:

People expect PAX to happen to them.

It might come as a shock to some but even at a show as enormous as PAX you might have to get your hands dirty when it comes to finding that next big "thing" you're looking for. I feel like there are people who walk into the show and are disappointed the second they don't have all of their expectations shoved directly into their face and I feel bad because those people are going to have a bad time right from the get-go. I don't want people to have a bad time. I want them to have a good time. So if you ever find yourself bored at a big show filled with all of your favorite types of things here's a simple solution: Grab a program, take a seat, and find something new that seems interesting to you. At the very least it'll give you a goal and something to look forward to. If it wasn't your cup of tea try it again and move on to the next thing. You're bound to find something you dig.

Enough ranting, though. Part 2 of our 2017 PAX East recap is here and while last week we focused on the panels and people this week we're talking about games. We played everything we could get our hands on from console to tabletop and now we're here to tell you all about it. Huge thanks to all the crew and staff of the BCEC and Penny Arcade for putting on yet another great show. Let the countdown until next year begin. Thanks for listening, everyone.

-Jr.

I'm not going to lie here: I have no idea where to start with this one.

Saying the last week has been rough would be putting it lightly. We've talked at length about the post-con depression that some people experience when they get home from a weekend of fantasy and entertainment. It doesn't happen at every show and sometimes it's not a terrible thing to cope with...but this one was tough. Going back to the real world after three days of being with my best friends, in a beautiful city, surrounded by the things we love is borderline torture. But so far I've managed.

It turns out the four of us had a lot to say about PAX so our coverage this year is going to be split up into two neatly organized episodes for you. This week features our thoughts on the panels we saw, the people we met, and the shows we witnessed. We had the pleasure of catching some of the most entertaining and intriguing events this year and I can't wait for you to hear about them.

Check out the photo album HERE and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter so you can stay informed on future updates.

See you next week for part 2 of our PAX East coverage where we focus on one thing and one thing only: Games. You won't want to miss it.

-Jr.

Hey!

So it's time for your yearly dose of nostalgia while we celebrate doing 5 years of a podcast. I'm keeping this super short this week because we're leaving for PAX in less than 10 hours and I have yet to pack/charge/shower/sleep. And all of those things need to be done. Cuz I don't want to have no clothes/kill my batteries/smell bad/fall asleep at the wheel.

Makes sense, right?

Enjoy!

-Jr.

It took an extraordinary amount of willpower to pull myself away from Breath of the Wild tonight. My shiny, new Switch arrived yesterday just as my vacation started in a timing coincidence that could only be described as "really, really awesome". I've only put about 6 hours into BotW so far but those 6 hours have been very good. It's been some time since I've gone adventuring in Hyrule but I'd be hard pressed to find any other fictional world that I always feel so immediately familiar with. The next 8 days of my life should be pretty rad...especially the last 3 of them.

Because PAX East is almost here.

In what could be possibly the most logistically informative hype up episode we've ever done our friend Jeff Kalles from Penny Arcade returned this week so we could partake in one of my favorite pastimes: Talk about PAX.  And who better to talk PAX with than someone who plays a major part in making sure it even continues to exist. If you missed our last chat with Jeff check it out here to learn all about the world of Dungeons & Dragons played in front of a massive live audience.

We're gearing up for our 4th trip out to the BCEC and with every passing year I get even more annoying with my level of excitement. This year in particular is cause for even more excitement than normal because our very own Alex is making his return to the Expo. After taking the last 2 years off we finally wore him down with stories of games, panels, and people to the point where he could resist no longer. This makes me happy. And while the thought of being in Boston in early March near the water might deter some folks from wanting to make the trip for fear of freezing temperatures I, on the other hand, am well aware that I'm going to be spending three days with three of my best friends playing games, watching shows, and meeting people. Absolutely worth it.

Huge thanks to Jeff for carving out time to chat with us during what we assume to be an insanely busy time for him. Be on the lookout for tons of PAX related coverage in the coming weeks and if you're heading to Boston for the show be safe and have fun. And play the games. All of them.

-Jr.

It's around 9pm on a Saturday night. I'm sitting on the couch next to my wife while we watch sea creatures destroy each other to the calming voice of David Attenborough and I'm uploading an episode featuring our best pal Jon where we talked about toys and action figures for the better part of an hour.

Not a bad night if you asked me.

It would probably be a good idea to bust out your nostalgia hats for this one. About 30 minutes in I was itching to go digging around in my storage bins to see what buried treasure I could find. With any luck this episode will have the same effect on you.

Enjoy!

-Jr.

I get called "a DC guy" a lot.

And it makes sense. I've spent much of my comic book reading career touting how much I dig DC and how Marvel books didn't really interest me. I also have the Justice League tattooed into my skin. Like, it's gonna be there forever. And it would be safe to say that probably 85% of my collection is comprised of DC books. So yeah I don't really get upset when people say I'm "a DC guy".

But let's bust out a hypothetical situation here: It's a beautiful Wednesday afternoon and there are new comics on the stands waiting to be purchased. We hit up our local comic shop and start browsing. Once we hit the register, being a DC guy myself you'd probably expect to see a handful of JLA/Green Lantern/Batman books among a few other titles.

But these days?

It would be more like a Green Lantern book, maybe a Justice League book, maybe some Thor because I love Thor......and a variety of Image books. Walking Dead. Invincible. Saga. Black Monday Murders. Sex Criminals. Rat Queens. Morning Glories...to name a few. These days I'm a big fan of Image Comics. And it's not uncommon for me to be walking out of my comic shop with more Image books than Big 2 books combined. And I'm ok with that.

So anyways, what I'm getting at here is Image Comics is in the midst of celebrating their 25th Birthday and we thought that was worth noting as they've provided us with countless hours and pages of entertainment. Check out this week's episode to hear more. Plus we talk about other comics, too.

Enjoy!

-Jr.

As far as I'm concerned any length of time between Brett Kelley appearances is too long. We managed to last 3 months this time but it felt more like 6. Either way. Brett is back this week and we're just really happy about it. The reason for Brett's return this week is pretty simple: He went to a new show called "Glimmerdark" and he's here to tell us about it.

The past couple of years Brett has made the trek down to New Jersey to attend the Wicked Faire. The past couple of years Brett has also provided us with a recap of said Wicked Faire but since it was announced last year that the Wicked Faire would be no more...we were a bit disappointed to say the least.

Luckily it seems the Wicked Faire has been reborn into a new show called Glimmerdark and being the true gentleman that he his Brett once again made the journey to New Jersey to attend and subsequently made the journey into our studio to regale us with his tales of wonder and mystery. And it was good.

Enjoy!

-Jr.

Three times I've tried to get this episode uploaded today and three times I've been distracted by various YouTube videos. My current distraction is this incredible cover of Voodoo Child by Stevie Ray Vaughan. I mean seriously.

But anyways. We do have an episode for you this week and it features our friend Alyson aka The Vulgar Seamstress. She's joining us for one simple reason: To talk about anime. It's probably been mentioned many times in the past but when it comes to anime Alex and I are a bit old school. By old school I mean we both own the enormous 8 disc Trigun box set that at one time cost upwards of $200. Alyson, however, has a vast knowledge of anime both new and old and now you have the opportunity to spend the next 70+ minutes listening to her talk about it.

Personally I've watched one actual anime series in the past decade and that's really unacceptable. It's just that thing that I always say I need to experience more of...but then I just kind of forget or willfully ignore it. It takes a lot to get me to actually sit down and watch something to completion. I'm really, really good at starting but never finishing. For example here are some shows that I've started, enjoyed, but have yet to complete: Breaking Bad, Daredevil season 2, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Making a Murderer, and Season 4 of Arrested Development to name a few. Come to think of it, off the top of my head aside from Parks & Recreation I think House of Cards and Stranger Things are the only shows I've been able to actually complete recently. I'd like to think it's because I'm so busy with being productive and doing adult things I just don't have time to finish anything. But in reality its mostly because my nights are taken up with Overwatch and reruns of shows I've already finished.

I guess I just have a hard time with commitment. Or I'm lazy.

Yeah, it's probably the latter.

-Jr.

I think I've slept through about 18 of the past 24 hours. I don't deal with being sick very well. With that said; I have an obligation to provide this week's episode to you because simply put: It's pretty good.

Here's a breakdown for you: A friend of ours named Tighe called us on Skype and we got to talk to him about what it's like to be able to do cool things and to have talent.

Pretty neat, right?

Also here's a fun fact: It took me 6 tries to write that 2nd paragraph because I'm so hopped up on medicine I can't see straight. There was a minor debate in my mind to just leave it the way it was typed out for comedy's sake...but honestly Tighe was such a rad guest I felt like it would have been a disservice to him to have the post riddled with spelling errors and nonsense.

Now it's time for more sleep.

Enjoy!

-Jr.

This week was neat.

Alex and I didn't have a guest lined up so we knew it was going to be just the two of us. During our pre-show "oh shit what are we going to talk about" meeting something crazy and completely unexpected happened: We started talking about comics.

Ok so maybe not completely unexpected because it happens literally every time we hang out. But it also got me thinking because it was conversations like the one we stumbled into today that ultimately led to the genesis of this very show.

So we rolled with it and did a sort of "throwback" episode and just talked about comic book characters we felt were underrated/over-hyped and it was glorious. I'm sure you'll have your own opinions for this week's topics and I urge you to share them with us. Maybe even on our Facebook page if you were so inclined.

I swear to God if anyone says one bad word about Maxwell Lord, though....

Anyways, enjoy this week's jam.

-Jr.