Completely Conspicuous 178: Look Back in Anger

This week on the podcast, I've got part 1 of my conversation with special guest Ric Dube as we dissect 1990s movies. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



The show notes:

- Check out Ric's great podcast, More Lost Time

- Indie film emerged as viable entity in the '90s

- Richard Linklater, Kevin Smith, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino

- Still in the age of VHS and fewer cable options for viewers

- Internet was in its infancy at start of decade, text-based

- Reinventing brands, like Coke did with Diet Coke

- Ric's million-dollar idea

- Studios started experimenting with quality projects

- Ric: Huge trend of "Adjective Noun" movies

- Revisiting "The Cable Guy"

- Jay: The end of the bankable star

- Every star had huge bombs

- Eddie Murphy had the biggest decline from '80s to '90s

- Ric feels the same way about R.E.M. after the first few albums

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

Centro-matic - Only in My Double Mind

Roadside Graves -Love Me More

Bon Iver - Calgary

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The show is sponsored by Budget, the country's premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to Budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.

The Centro-matic song is on the forthcoming album Candidate Waltz on Undertow Music. Download the song for free at the band's site.

The Roadside Graves song is on the forthcoming album We Can Take Care of Ourselves on Autumn Tone. Download the song for free at Stereogum.

The Bon Iver song is on album Bon Iver on Jagjaguwar Records. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at the band's site.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at his blog. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site PodGeek.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous 177: Doomsday Scenario

This week on the podcast, I take a look at why we’re so fascinated with the end of the world. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



The show notes...

- Saturday, May 21 was supposed to be the Rapture

- Harold Camping financed ad campaign proclaiming the end of the world

- Nothing happened

- Many others have predicted doomsday in the past

- In 1954, Dorothy Martin predicted world would end via flood

- In 1800s, Mariana Andrada made similar predictions

- Some take warnings seriously

- California woman tried to kill her daughters and herself last week to avoid the end of the world

- Next up: Mayans predicted doom in 2012

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

Joel Plaskett - When I Go

Ty Segall - You Make the Sun Fry

The Smashing Pumpkins - Quiet (live)

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at Eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at Eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at Footlocker.com.

The Joel Plaskett song is on the album Emergencys, false alarms, shipwrecks, castaways, fragile creatures, special features, demons and demonstrations on New Scotland Records. Download the song for free at Pigeon Row.

The Ty Segall song is on the album Goodbye Bread on Drag City Records, where you can download the song for free.

The Smashing Pumpkins song was recorded live at BBC Studios on Sept. 12, 1993. Download the song for free at Archive.org.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at his blog. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site PodGeek.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous 176: Put the Message in the Box

Part 2 of my podcast conversation with special guest Jim Corrigan as we discuss social media. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



The show notes:

- Jim is a Twitter newbie (@JimCorrigan2011), Jay has been on for two years (@koomdogg)

- Jim's already Tweeted more than 1,300 times

- Previously, he was a blogger about politics

- Lots of pressure to write cogent posts

- Resisted Twitter for a long time, but now loves it

- Jay: Follow comedians, bands

- Corrigan fell for Twitter spam

- Stay off Facebook at work, but easier to tweet throughout the day

- Great source of immediate news

- Jay: Heard about Bin Laden's death on Twitter more than hour before Obama announced it

- Good way to hype new eps of CompCon, columns, occasional blog post

- Jim: Twitter offers less feedback than Facebook; no "like" button

- Spam bots galore on Twitter

- Jay: Like to post interesting links, retweets

- FYI: Jim would rather be clubbed than tased

- Jay: Steer clear of political stuff on Twitter

- Jim works a solitary job, so social media offers sense of community

- Facebook's good for keeping up with friends

- Social media didn't cause governmental overthrow in Egypt and Libya

- Differences of musical opinion on Facebook

- Ranking favorite songs is tough

- Jay: Use Google Reader to follow blogs

- Charlie Sheen situation was played out in a matter of days

- Twitter memes fly by fast and furiously

- Jim's mom is on Facebook

- There are things you can say on Twitter that you can't on FB

- Reconnecting with people via social media is cool, but can be awkward

- Blocking friends on Facebook

- Annoying social media habits: Trolling for opinions, retweets

- If you really want privacy, don't go on Facebook

- Don't post anything that you don't want getting out there

- Jim: As a means of expression, Twitter is better

- Facebook's better for more personal stuff

- Some people just use social media to complain about their lives

- If you need social media for friends, you've got bigger problems

- Spoiler alerts

- Social networks involved actual human interaction when we were kids

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

F***ed Up - Queen of Hearts

The National - About Today

The Sam Roberts Band - Longitude

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The show is sponsored by Budget, the country's premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to Budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.

The F***ed Up song is on the album David Comes to Life on Matador Records, where you can download the song for free.

The National song is on the re-released 2004 EP Cherry Tree on Brassland. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at Bandcamp.

The Sam Roberts Band song is on the album Collider on Rounder Records. Find out more at and download the song for free at Rounder (right click and "save as").

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at his blog. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site PodGeek.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous 175: Politics as Usual

Part 1 of my podcast conversation with special guest Jim Corrigan as we talk politics. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



The show notes...

- Corrigan's a lifelong but "not typical" Democrat

- Mixing up Obama and Osama

- Debate over releasing Bin Laden photos

- OBL was "hiding" in plain sight for years

- Kumar: Very jaded about politics

- Making sense of Ron Paul

- Is Obama more liberal than Bill Clinton?

- Jim's brother worked for Mike Dukakis campaign

- Kumar: Two-party system sucks

- Gitmo's still open despite Obama's promise to close it

- Jim first encountered Clinton in Arkansas in '88

- Four years later, he came out of nowhere to win Dem nomination

- Politicians getting in trouble with sex scandals (John Edwards, Gary Hart)

- Republicans in the 2012 presidential race face tough odds

- Trump is a joke

- Jim: Not fired up about Obama, but committed

- Jim's brother "made" Obama

- Key to campaigning now is canvassing

- Gotta get out and shake hands

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

Thurston Moore - Circulation

Joel Plaskett and Shotgun Jimmie - Jimmie's Still Jimmie

Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears - Livin' in the Jungle

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at Eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at Eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at Footlocker.com.

The Thurston Moore song is on the album Demolished Thoughts on Matador Records, where you can download the song for free.

The Joel Plaskett and Shotgun Jimmie song is on the 7-inch Jimmie's Still Jimmie on New Scotland Records. Download the song for free at Pigeon Row.

The Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears song is from the album Scandalous on Lost Highway Records. Download the song for free at Amazon.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at his blog. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site PodGeek.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous 174: Long Time Running

This week on the podcast, I take a look at my complicated relationship with running. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



The show notes:

- Never saw the point of running

- Played sports but never ran for running's sake

- After college, started working out again

- Watched Boston Marathon every year but never thought I could do it

- Started running in late '90s because of my girlfriend (now wife)

- Ran a 5K, then kept increasing distance

- In 2002, ran Boston Marathon for the first time

- No marathon this spring because of burnout

- Enjoying shorter distances and just running in general

- Ran in the Poco Loco in Boston last weekend

- Social running event with no pressure for time or speed

- Similar events in the works for St. Louis, London

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

The Twilight Singers - Don't Call

The Church - Under the Milky Way

Sebadoh - Rebound

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The show is sponsored by Budget, the country's premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to Budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.

The Twilight Singers song is a B-side from the band's album Dynamite Steps on Sub Pop Records. Find out more and download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at the band's website.

The Church song is on the 1988 album Starfish on Arista Records. Download the song for free at Amazon.

The Sebadoh song is on the upcoming re-release of the 1994 album Bakesale on Sub Pop Records. Download the song for free at Sub Pop.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at his blog. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site PodGeek.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.