Reviewed by: Pugilist
I got an e-mail from Matt Cipoletti (OG from the Big Kevs Geek Stuff podcast starring Big Kev, Matt, and Mr. Fantastic) on the 21st of October in 2007, just as I was finishing my season experiment with the PA RenFaire. The folks at Hero Envy had mentioned my reviews did not totally suck and Matt's question was "care to take a look and write a review?" I promised to take a look when I had a chance, which would be after the Ren Faire had run it's course.
Yeah, this was back with episode 79. Matt did mention the podcasts had an occasional appearance on XM and I am an XM subscriber, but, I generally listen to it just in the car to and from work and the XM broadcasts did not mesh with my commute. In my defense, read whining and excuses, I'm not a podcast listener. When I'm at work I may listen to music, but I've got a 5 disk CD player and around 100 CDs and at home when I'm at my computer it's normally some FPS or perhaps a look at a new game or MMO or something. I just don't download and listen to things. In MMOs you can get away with not paying attention to sound but in FPS games, I don't know about you but I want to hear those footsteps as I am sneaking around so I can shoot them in the back or as they run around a corner, into my bullets.
So, time passed and it was not until April 20th that, as I mention in my blog entry, http://www.spewgilist.com/portal/ tabid/114/EntryId/141/Default.aspx, I finally bought an MP3 player for my very own self. OK, so I downloaded episode 79, the one Matt had written to me concerning and decided to give it a listen. And then I downloaded another, and some more, and finally, all of the ones up to 99 and used my commute, mindless tasks I had to do, background noise as I was reading, etc to listen to ALL of them by early Saturday morning on the 26th.
So, that'll give you an indication of my general views on Big Kevs Geek Stuff podcast but let's get into specifics.
Big Kevs Geek Stuff is a podcast about geek culture. It's not just about comics, although they cover comics. It's not just about gaming, although they cover gaming. It's not just about books, movies, action figures, dolls, conventions, sculpture, Star Wars, Star Trek, Serenity, tattoos, hot chicks (three guys, live with it) or any other single aspect. It's about all of the aspects of the geek culture from a non-fanatical point of view.
Non-fanatical? Isn't that a form of heresy? To some, certainly. But these are the same type of people who drop a Red Sox jersey into the concrete while employed as a laborer building the new Yankees stadium. And while that is the sort of reputation geek culture engenders with the rest of the populace, the actual nature of the majority of geek culture is represented by the folks behind BigKevsGeekStuff.com podcast. We like a series of interrelated, albeit very loosely at times, things from comics to movies to action figures/dolls/whatever-the-hell-you-need-to-call-them, to books, to props, to gaming, to art, to just about anything our minds can pretend is in any way related.
But let's be totally honest. If the show was just two or three guys talking around how neat-o everything in geek culture is it would get stale, fast. Nothing kills a show, any show, faster than folks sitting around talking about how important they are and why their interests are so much better than other cultures. But Big Kevs Geek Stuff doesn't fall into this trap. Rather you've got Big Kev, OG, and Fantastic (sporadically) talking on just about anything that crosses their minds while having some kick ass guests in-studio and remotely. They show has definite cross-over appeal to all aspects of geek doom. If it didn't, I'd've dropped it after a single episode and written a "it's a decent podcast focusing on X in geek culture." Certainly I would not have listened to 20 episodes in less than a week and XM certainly would not have had them on five times, thus far, on Channel 202, the Virus.
So, if you have any interest in geek culture, which is a given as you are reading this, you'll enjoy the podcast from Big Kevs Geek Stuff It doesn't focus exclusively on any single area of geekdom and it allows folks like me who don't always fit the standard geek profile, to listen about comics and action figures and, at the very least, be entertained. They are informative, entertaining, and funny.
Along with great content, we have a podcast that feels professional. There is background music, there are show discussion notes; there are no "tick-tick-tick" dead pauses. It sounded like I was listening to a broadcast radio show. It was simply put together extremely well.
Review done. Now let’s talk about things that stood out, good and bad. This may be considered a matter of opinion by some, but those people are wrong. Just ask me.
Peter Jackson
They apparently liked his bastardization of the Lord of the Rings. Yes, I know it won Oscars, so did Gandhi for costuming the year Star Wars came out, who gives a shit. Peter Jackson took a classic piece of literature and hacked it into a angsty Xene saga of paste. And now he'll screw up The Hobbit.
Philip K. Dick
They love Phillip K. Dick and the films inspired by his writing. Obviously this is a sign of extreme good taste and high intelligence and who am I to argue. Oh and Amazon has the Blade Runner Attache Case for $60.
PC Games
They maintain PC Games are dying and they are wrong, wrong, wrong. I don't care that console games are outselling PC games, I don't care that there are more console titles than PC titles. I don't care that the PC game revenue is down in comparison to console game revenue. They are wrong because I hate console games and the world must conform to my desires. I checked, it's in the rules.
Starship Troopers - The Afterbirth that is the Movies
They suck, no one can defend them, ever. I enjoyed the hot female flesh displayed in the movies to date but even that cannot redeem these shit storms
Dolls/Action Figures/ Etc.
Finally, someone who doesn't need to piss and moan as to whether an action figure is a doll. We like them, they look cool, move the hell on.
Nerd World Order
The most annoying commercials ever, simply unlistenable. Thank God for fast forward.
The Dollhouse
A Joss Whedon series on Fox. BigKevsGeekSpace.com is looking for the definitive fan organization name and I have it: Imprints
Flash Gordon Special Edition commentary DVD
This is a Hot and Damn thing. I'd seen them on the site when I downloaded the episodes but when I heard the show, an XM show at that, with Sam J Jones and Melody Anderson, I knew what they where. Nicely produced, signed, commentary DVDs with content including the XM show. It was a "De-AMMM!" moment and I bought one immediately. They are running out - you'll have to decide who will get yours, you, or that creep that always takes the last burger at the picnic. Decide now.
Scale
Boys, and I can call them boys because I am a cantankerous old man, I'm going to send you boys some small tape measures and a scale chart. You are driving me crazy with trying to decide scale on these things. Use the same system they use for models, you'll find out those 2"sih figures are 1:24 scale. Look it up.
And a whole bunch of other things that have slipped through my mind and that I'll remember just in time to do a review of the 100th episode - which is to air tonight, the 26th of April, 2008. I'll listen to it on Sunday and let you know how it stacks up. It will, of course, be entertaining because these folks haven't put out a bad show.
If you've not yet heard an episode, now would be a wonderful time to check them out. You can find them at:
BigKevsGeekStuff.com