Completely Conspicuous 556: It's Not a Bug, It's a Feature

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss life after close to a year in pandemic lockdown. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Tough to not see friends

- Matt runs Dungeons & Dragons games via Zoom

- Surprising number of people are into D&D

- It's a good escape from the world

- Like a weekly therapy session

- Companies use D&D for corporate retreats

- Games have grown in popularity during the pandemic

- Jay: We started playing a family dominoes game every Saturday

- Jay: Played the board game Pandemic years ago

- The CDC's zombie announcement

- People will run toward the zombies

- Going to movies seems so far away

- Jay: Like going to concerts, don't love going to movies

- Tough time to be a theater actor

- Miss going to bars

- Will masks stick around after the pandemic ends?

- Toilet paper hoarders

- Matt ordered TP last April; it arrived in October

- Waiting for normalcy

- Matt: Look forward to seeing nieces and nephews again

- Want to do activities involving other humans

- We miss traveling

- Jay: Wasn't overly disappointed to not go to a June work conference in Phoenix

- Matt hated getting ready to go places, but liked it once he got there

- When you can't find parking during a pandemic

- Some people don't care about doing the right thing

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 555: Working for the Clampdown

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss life after close to a year in pandemic lockdown. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Haven't talked for the show since November 2019

- Coming up on the first anniversary of everything getting locked down

- Matt was already used to working from home

- Matt writes YA superhero/fantasy books including The Indestructibles series

- Hasn't been able to go to fantasy or comics conventions

- Jay: Miss the interaction of being in the office

- Now used to the WFH life

- Strange to spend all day at home with your family

- Matt has been working remotely for over a decade

- Companies will probably do away with full offices at some point

- Matt: Working in an office forces you to plan for inefficiency

- WFH requires self-discipline

- Definitely tougher for folks with small kids

- Matt dealt with the challenges of ancient Wifi technology in 2010 in Ireland

- Employers will have to adjust post-COVID

- Commuting sucks and people aren't going to want to do it as much

- The lockdown wasn't good for Matt's writing focus

- Too much going on in the world

- Last March, we all assumed things would be back to normal soon

- Matt: Lost the full-time gig, now juggling multiple freelance jobs

- Doing photography shoots exposes you to lots of germs

- Masks let you be more anonymous than you once were

- Running with a mask is a little challenging

- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 539: Half and Half

It's part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the year so far. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded via Zoom
- Breitling's #10 and Kumar's #8
- Jangly indie pop sounds from Australia
- The lack of touring is really hurting bands and fans
- Breitling's #9
- A Matmos side project, "a niche of a niche"
- Kumar's #10
- All-star post-punk act out of LA
- Kumar's #9
- The loud/loud dynamic
- Breitling's #8
- Solo album from singer of Hop Along
- Breitling's #7
- Ambient electronic from an Italian musician in his 60s
- Bandcamp Friday has been a big hit this year
- Kumar's #7
- New band from Ian MacKaye, Amy Farina and Joe Lally
- Harking back to Fugazi's sound
- Kumar's #6
- Texas-based act with members from the Riverboat Gamblers and Rise Against
- Breitling's #6
- Another great Slumberland release
- Breitling's #5
- Dream pop from the Ukraine
- Kumar's #5
- Indie rock stalwart continues evolving his sound
- Kumar's and Breitling's #4
- Another cinematic effort from Canuck genius
- Breitling's #3
- Powerful release overshadowed by the pandemic
- Breitling's #2 and Kumar's #1
- Political hip hop as an art form
- Never more timely
- Kumar's #3
- Atmospheric new release from an alt-rock OG
- Kumar's #2
- Striking record from Boston-based indie rock act
- Breitling's #1
- UK indie act "like Elliot Smith making a Teenage Fanclub record"
- Looking forward to new releases from Sam Prekop, Katie Day, Bob Mould, IDLES, Fontaines DC, Psychedelic Furs
- When will concerts happen again?
- Probably dependent on a vaccine
- Liability is a big factor in whether shows come back

Completely Conspicuous is available through the Apple Podcasts directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 538: The Middle of Nowhere

It's part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the year so far. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded via Zoom
- R.I.P., Great Scott
- Big blow to Boston rock scene
- Venues, bars, restaurants are going out of business all over the country
- Breitling and college friends have resurrected their old radio shows on Mixcloud
- Parcheesi Redux is on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
- Now 17 weeks in
- Music industry is at a standstill
- Touring has ceased altogether
- RATT's back, baby (thanks to Geico)
- Livestreams have become a thing
- There's no money in album sales anymore
- Breitling: Have been listening to more music this year
- Breitling's faves outside the top 10: Jesse Gallagher, Hum, Phoebe Bridgers, Katie Day
- Kumar's on the bubble picks: EOB, Jeff Rosenstock, Peel Dream Magazine, Porridge Radio, Savak
- Next time: On to our top 10

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

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 533: Long Distance Runaround

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss quarantine life. Listen to the episode below or download directly.

Show notes:
- Recorded recently via Skype
- What's the first thing you'd do post-COVID?
- All the big movies got pushed back to later in the year or 2021
- Some movies are going straight to streaming
- When will we feel comfortable at crowded concerts again?
- If touring slows down, how will musicians survive?
- Artists may have to go directly to fans for support
- Lou Barlow started a subscription service
- Artists have done similar things for years: Rundgren, Prince
- Might see more music made by artists stuck at home
- Suddenly we have a lot of time to listen to records
- Jay: Daughter's into the Beatles now
- When you know songs you hate by heart
- Appreciating '70s-era McCartney
- Bad production really stands out on mix playlists
- Does anyone remember dynamics?
- Self-improvement activities to catch up on
- Brian: No time to do any of it so far
- Jay: Want to alphabetize my records
- No guilty pleasures: Making peace with disco
- Brian: Need to organize music room
- Jay: Hope to pick up the old guitar
- Bill Rieflin, R.I.P.

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 532: Life During Quarantine

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss quarantine life. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded last week via Skype
- Homeschooling is hard work
- A month in, the hoarding continues
- Brian's second-grader has a lot of schoolwork
- Brian was down in Florida to spend a few days at spring training
- Had planned to visit family in Arizona in March, but decided not to
- Virus moved quickly
- Brian saw Jonathan Richman concert in March
- Jay: Was supposed to fly to California for a conference in March, but it was canceled
- Had tickets to Archers of Loaf concert in mid-March that was canceled
- Jay: Working from home full-time
- Brian: Trying to find non-screen activities for the kids
- We're spending a lot of time with our families, which isn't a bad thing
- We've never had a situation like this where everything is shut down
- A lot of people are out of work or unable to work right now
- No sports to watch during one of the best times of year for sports
- Sports may come back without crowds in attendance
- When will things go back to normal?
- Kids' school sports, activities are on hold
- Touring musicians are losing a ton of money
- South Korea was able to shut everything down and come out on the other end
- One person can do a lot of damage
- Spring break idiots
- Adam Schlesinger, R.I.P. (this was recorded before he died)
- Washing our hands more than ever before
- Missing out on draft beer
- We're lucky to be able to work from home
- How will the economy bounce back?
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 530: Quarantine Dream

This week on Quarantining With Kumar, I talk about how life has changed drastically in a short period of time because of COVID-19. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded while driving around to get some essentials
- Day 5 of self-quarantine, working from home
- The state of Massachusetts has pretty much closed all non-essential businesses
- We haven't experienced anything like this before (in my lifetime)
- Life after 9/11 was weird, but got back to normal fairly quickly
- Some states have implemented "shelter in place" rules
- Social distancing is the big buzzword
- Public gatherings are outlawed
- Spring breakers defied warnings
- Everything's getting canceled: Sports, trips, concerts
- We need to stay home to keep virus from spreading
- Most people I know are complying with the quarantine
- Musicians are doing livestreams instead of concerts
- Optimistic this will end soon, but it's hard to tell
- Watching out for older folks who are more susceptible to virus
- Some people are freaking out with conspiracy theories
- Got to ride this thing out
- Stay positive

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.