Feb 142012
 
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Part three of our four-part nerd culture retrospective brings us into the time of UFOs, shirtless starship captains, questing hobbits and dashing British spies. After the break, we discuss a few changes that we’re planning to make to our update schedule, and we each pitch an idea for a role-playing scenario that you get to vote for! Finally, we have the long-awaited debut of EDSKETCH, the scariest mother-frakking piece of audio in the history of anything, ever.

(Show notes after the break.)

I. Cold Opening – Poop Storm (00:00:00)

Not much is left to the imagination here. Is it just me, or are these non sequitors getting crazier by the episode?

II. Introduction – Geek Century III (1951 – 75) (00:00:36)

Alex, Meyer, Ryan and Ed discuss the nitpicky details of bloodthirsty revenants from beyond the moon. Then Meyer mentions his tumescent cock and we’re forced to move on (but we never really do). We also argue about segues, and discuss our funny excuse for Erik’s absence, which we never quite agree upon.

IIa. Science Fiction in Television (ED) (00:03:50)

Ed takes us through the original run of Star Trek and the early seasons of Doctor Who, as well as the short-lived but fondly remembered Irwin Allen shows, The Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants and Lost in Space.

IIb. The James Bond Franchise (ALEX) (00:20:58)

Alex discusses the sexplosional appeal of that master spy, that man of mystery, James Bond. From Ian Fleming’s original novels to a series of 22 films beginning with Dr. No, Bond has captivated audiences with his quick wit and delectable arm candy for the past 50 years. We nerds take our vodka martinis shaken–not stirred–and with plenty of sex and violence.

IIc. Lord of the Rings Trilogy (MEYER) (00:30:02)

Meyer takes us to the fantastic realm of Middle Earth for a long soak in J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterfully rendered epic, The Lord of the Rings. This trilogy has inspired fantasy geeks to create artwork, films, games, and even counterculture slogans!

IId. Science Fiction on Film (RYAN) (00:39:57)

Ryan discusses the extreme dichotomy of quality in science fiction films of this period. From the 1950s to the ’70s, sci-fi films were either thoughtful examinations of the human condition with captivating storylines and expertly realized effects, such as Forbidden Planet, 2001: A Space Odyssey and La Jetée, or lackluster, laugh-till-it-hurts B-movies with enough camp for fifteen slasher flicks, like Attack of the 50 Foot Woman or Zardoz.

III. A Special Announcement Regarding Our Update Schedule / “I’d Play That!” (00:51:42)

After we complete our Geek Century retrospective, The Rag-NERD-rok Crew will be changing our podcast release schedule to once every four weeks. We’re doing this because, as the months have gone on, things have changed for many of us here at Rag-NERD-rok that make a bi-weekly schedule much less doable. By scaling back our releases, we can make sure we can keep doing the podcast and bringing you quality entertainment.

However, we will be posting new material as often as possible. During the off weeks, we plan to put up Actual Play recordings of our many role-playing sessions, which have met with some pretty positive responses thus far. To check out some of the Actual Plays that we’ve posted already, check out the ALT Feed.

As such, we’ve decided to start a poll to find out what you’d like to hear us play! In this segment, each of us pitches an idea for a one-shot scenario that you, the listeners, can vote for. Choose your favorite pitch and (we promise) we’ll run it, record it, and post it on the site for you to hear.

The pitches were:

  1. ALEX: A Wild Talents scenario involving superheroes sent to deal with a nuclear Nazi during World War II. The Germans have a Talent with the power to control the atom itself, and they intend to sneak him into London and Washington, DC.
  2. MEYER: An epic tale of Adventure! about a group of first-time adventurers who set off on a quest to find an ancient arena in a treacherous jungle. Within, they seek a fabled axe said to grant its wielder extraordinary powers. Will they find it, or will they succumb to the competition?
  3. ED: A supernatural murder mystery set in a homebrew system. Ed’s game involves a group of dead PCs who are trying to solve a series of killings in a purgatorial insane asylum so that they can come to grips with their inner demons and pass on to Heaven.
  4. RYAN: A Monsters and Other Childish Things scenario in which a group of kids with monster friends must fend off the plans of an evil real estate developer to demolish their awesome tree house! Can they save their beloved clubhouse from becoming the parking lot of a shopping mall, or will their efforts be in vain?

Vote for your favorite pitch in the poll on our sidebar, and we’ll announce the winners on the next episode!

IV. EDSKETCH! (01:17:27)

Ed is up to his old tricks again, except this time, he’s bending reality to his warped sense of humor.

God help us all.

V. Outro (00:00:00)

Please share your thoughts with us, especially if you’ve got an extreme viewpoint! Should you wish to let us know how much you adore our work, or if you want to let us know that you’re going to track us down and murder us because you hate our guts, feel free to email us, follow us on Facebook, give us a tweet on Twitter, or give us a call at (516) 362 – NERD [6373]. You can also comment below.

Be sure to download our podcast on iTunes and leave us a review, especially if you happen to be Erik’s friend Twizzle and you want Ed, Alex and Meyer to stop berating you.

Music / SFX:

First Interlude: Vulcanizing Society (Barnacled) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
Second Interlude: The Best (Lipstick Homicide) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
Outro: Round II – The Ancients (Learning Music) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Copyright

Creative Commons License
Rag-NERD-rok Podcast by Alex Costello, Edward Cress, Erik Dickash, Ryan Mannix and Billy Meyer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available by contacting info@ragnerdrok.com.

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