300 Episodes Milestone and Website Evolution

I'm Joe Kramer, composer of Mission Impossible

Rogue Nation. Your mission, should you choose

to accept it, is to listen to this podcast from

the Geekcast Radio Network. You're listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. Unleash the Geek

in you! This is GeekCast Radio, and this is our

300th episode. I'm of course TF2, and joining

me is Steve Megatron. Hello sir, how are you?

Hello. 300, how the hell did we get here? Lots

of time. Lots of time, lots of content, lots

of everything, because I... Earlier, before we

started recording this, I actually went back

to the very first, I think it's, what is it,

page 35? Is that where we did the Shatner? Yes,

that's where we did the Shatner. We have 28 pages

dedicated to Geekcast Radio. No, we started out

with GI Joe Resolute, we did Star Trek, and then

we did TV Technology, so those were the first

three episodes. So long ago. I know, right? So

crazy. I know, right? This is something we should

revisit on this podcast at some point. Why has

network TV gone down the tubes? What the hell

is network TV anymore? Do you remember what we

talked about? Yes. We talked about it being a

la carte. Yeah. Look where we are. They gave

us exactly what we asked for and we don't want

it. I mean, I'm just being for real. It's crazy.

The problem is from that podcast episode, which

was episode nine of GCR, from that podcast episode

in 2010 to now in 2022, the ollie cart, even

though you can ollie your carts any way you want,

It's essentially replacing cable packages because

certain streaming services have certain things

and certain streaming services don't have certain

things. Sometimes there's the same thing on all

of them. Sometimes nothing is on any of them.

I know. I've gotten to this point now where I'm

not a huge fan of streaming services only because

I wasn't a fan of cable anyway. I wasn't a subscriber.

It doesn't impact me whatsoever. I never cared

for it. There's too many of them out there, to

be honest. It's not that I don't like subscribing

to different services. I just don't have time.

We did the close to around the 70s mark of the

show. We did our spotlights on the featured.

guests, the partner program content back when

we were wanting to introduce all the new partner

programs like Smeared Inc. and Markhu42 who is

now back with us doing stuff. We promote their

stuff and they're back on the network and everything

else. Turtle Flakes, which I don't think exists

anymore. I know Rob and Josh are still around,

but I don't think the show exists anymore. Punisher

Body Count just ended because of all the things

going on with the Punisher and Jake and Dane.

I don't know what's going on with any of that.

Is the G .I. Joe? What's on Joe's mind? They're

still going. Oh, cool. They're still going. Uh,

we, we've had interviews with a whole bunch of

people in the last 13 years. Um, MV Gerhard and

Matt Verbois from All Land Records. I talked

with John Takis. I talked with John Sempert Jr.,

which it's kind of funny that we're almost coming

up on the 30th anniversary of Spider -Man, the

animated series. I did the music spotlight. What

else are we doing this in this now? One of our

very first top 50s was like the third or fourth

or fifth episode geek top 50 where you and I

took 50 different geeky things and counted them

down. So that's kind of how the countdowns really

started. And then obviously Optimus Solo. Oh,

he took us to a whole nother level, but it's,

but thanks to IGN for botching it the first time.

Yes. Because without IGN, we would have never

come up with that staple. True. I mean, we would

have, but it probably would have been half -baked,

whereas when they caused the debacle to happen,

it really gave us the ammunition to really fight

back. Oh, yeah. And the top 100s, they keep counting

down, folks. We've got... Animated series, animated

films, animated characters? Yep. We've got...

What else do we have? We had heroes, villains,

I think. No, we didn't. We have not done heroes

yet. We did do villains. We did do villains.

We did do Transformers. We did wrestlers. Yep.

TV shows. Yep, TV shows. That was the other one

I forgot. And we're going to be doing toys next.

As soon as the three of us have time to sit down

and actually knock out some of the details. Yeah,

some of the behind -the -scenes stuff. You and

I usually and sometimes we would get other people,

but just depending. We've almost always done

a year in review show at the end of the year.

There were a couple of years where we did not

do one. I don't think 2015. I don't think we

did one last year either. No, we didn't do one

last year. No, I don't know. There's those. Optimus

Solo and a couple other people came in with Star

Wars things like Star Wars quote, like top 10

Star Wars quotes and top five Star Wars rules

and film ideas. Episode 85 was him and who else

was in that episode? Top 10 Star Wars characters,

which was done back in 2015. It was... Me and

Kevin? Really? I don't remember being on GCR

85. Okay. Whatever. I'll have to listen to that

later. But we've done a lot. And people might

be saying, if you're only on episode 85 in 2015,

how are there three? It's a numbering thing,

folks. Trust us. We are where we are. If the

little backend thing says you have 299 episodes,

I believe that because that's where it is. This

is episode 300. I just want to thank everybody

from you to Kevin, to Michael Wilson, to just

everybody that's participated on this show, participated

on any of our shows, and as well as anyone who

has listened to the sound of our voices for this

long. I'm sorry. Me too. No, but with that, and

this is just to a lesser degree, I've been toying

around with a new website design for quite some

time. However, I'm not very fond of what I picked

then based on features and just functionality.

I've figured out some ways to streamline some

of the back -ends, some of the front -ends, uh,

the various aspects and still keeping content,

but also wiping and kind of refreshing areas,

better organization, more or less. So there will

be some changes as we go into the fall on the

website front, as well as the podcasts, uh, might

be switching web hosts, uh, as for a podcast

hosts. We're, I'm, I'm still in process. Uh,

so basically I'm going to put out at a certain

point a poll or if people want to comment on

this episode, what are some features on the website

that you absolutely do not use or do not like?

Or what are some features that you do like or

what are some geek websites that you like certain

aspects of that you would like to see us implement?

Because I'm trying to narrow down on the site.

I'm trying to automate a lot of stuff because

honestly, like a lot of us have uh no time to

mess with things especially when it comes to

the technical side of things like myself my time

is so stretched thin between other projects that

i'm doing work family you know the fact i want

to be lazy and play a game oh the good old days

of all things transformers So, I mean, I remember

recording years ago, like five episodes in a

day, which I never get to do anymore, which is

kind of sad. Well, we're recording at least two

tonight, this and something else, so at least

two. Yes, at least two. But yeah, I mean, I would

just like to hear from people and discover what

they like, what they don't like. they feel like

is kind of a pain in the rear on the website.

Yeah. Well, currently as we're recording this,

I can specifically tell you, and I was not meaning

to do this on the air, but on the main page under

podcasts, if I go to any podcast, I'm just going

to say I'll go to All Things Transformers. It

takes me to the all things Transformers informational

page, which has all like 187, which that number

is wrong. Uh, cause we're at like four 18 now.

We're about to record 418. Instead of just taking

me directly to the category, it takes me one...

I have to click two times to get to the category

itself. That would be one thing. If we are going

to continue to have a drop down, I want those

to go specifically to the categories. Well, the

only problem with going to a category instead

of the page is it just shows the episodes. There's

no subscribe. There's no... Okay, that that was

the the concept between it Yeah, because on that

page it still breaks it down. Like if you go

to all things transformers, we have you know

an audio player there we have We have the various

platforms we have information about it as well

as like the origins breakdown So they're separated

So I mean you get you get a little bit of that

kind of breakdown and that's what I'd like to

do But I want to train to automate it Yeah, as

much as humanly possible Uh, because coding some

of that stuff was just, it got to be so tedious

that, that after I did, uh, I believe, uh, GCR

altered geek, uh, all things transformers and

like cinema geeks, I think I just kind of was

like, I just don't want to do this. And I did

future and perfect too. But yeah, I was, I was

kind of just like, I'm done. I don't have time.

I'm just going to leave it. I'll just put the

categories for now, which it works. Don't get

me wrong, but I want to have a little bit more

there per se. It may just require a beefier plugin

that does it. I plug it in with the show information

and then I build the page out and it just automates

the rest of the page and I don't have to do it.

I can do it from the back end, which that would

be much easier than doing the page because the

page itself is It's, yeah, it's a mess to deal

with. And so if I can, I'm pretty sure the plugin

that I'm playing around with, I can automate

about 85 % of what's on this page. Cool. Okay.

So the reason why I say, like, I think it's great

that we have this type of page that shows the

various contents that yes, it splits out the

origins to go to the separate origins tag or

the category or whatever. All is I'm saying is

if I want people to go to a specific post, I

like, like I, cause like you said, you stopped

at a certain point so I can click on the pull

bag from the exact same. And it takes me right

to the first page of the most recent episode.

So people could then, and this is only for me

personally, this is only for either sharing or

resharing episode links on social media or. If

it's to say go here and comment here, it really

has nothing to do with anything other than that.

And half the time when people are listening,

I'm betting they're listening on whichever device,

whichever service that they choose to listen

on. So we may ask you all for comments. Like

we've asked you for comments, you know, on what

you want to see and what you don't want to see

from the site in the future. So when I go plug

this episode onto social media, it's like, Hey,

Send us feedback, comment on this episode and

let us know what you want Steve to put in the

website and what you don't want him to put on

the website or what works or what doesn't work

for them and yada yada. But yeah, so basically

just looking for feedback from people who use

the website and want to see, you know, different

things kind of transpire. Absolutely. There's

been a number of designs we've had over the years

various fonts various whatever's and I've liked

some and I haven't liked others and we've disagreed

and agreed on things I like where we are now

with kind of like this whole retro Feeling thing

with the logos and the stuff and the whatever

so I think that's really really cool Yeah, that's

stuff. I'm not intending on changing. It's more

It's more so just the website layout and some

of the functionalities that are in it that may

or may not have been used. Graphically, I don't

intend on doing anything new for a while. I've

kind of burnt that creative bridge for the moment

and I have no intention of spending a lot of

time doing any of that. We are pretty set for

most of our graphics, for the most part. Yeah,

unless something new comes along. Yeah, which

that's the other thing. That's the other big,

big thing folks is that for the longest time

now, I've been using what we already have. Like

we have a full on cartoon podcast and tune cast.

There's no sense in starting up a whole, cause

the thing was starting a new podcast and you

guys can go back to episode two 97 when we talked

about the podcast name game. The thing about

starting up a whole new podcast on a specific

cartoon series, you have to come up with a title.

You have to come up with a title that nobody

else has taken. You have to do your research.

So I'm like, okay, it's part of Tooncast episode,

blah, blah, blah. Rescue Rangers film or whatever,

you know? So I'm now all about just incorporating

what we've already built over the last 13, 14

years and making that work for us. And also,

I'm kind of going with the less is more approach

these days. I'm telling you, the top 100 Transformers

characters countdown killed me. I can't, I'm

lucky if I can sit here more than 30 minutes

to record a podcast, let alone edit for the way

I edit, because over time I've gotten to the

point where it's like, if I don't listen to every

second and know what is happening every second

during an edit, And if I say, edit point here,

edit point there, or whatever, then I don't end

up doing it and it's still in there. Like, God,

I screwed up and all this and all that and everything

else. So, GCR is still our flagship. It's always

been our flagship. It's usually where we put

the bigger things, but it also is kind of my,

I don't want to say my show because it is our

show, but anyone that has an idea for an episode.

As long as they want me to help them record it,

if they want to have their topic on here, you

know, I've always said everybody is welcome and

I'll just do all the production and deal with

what it likes. It's how my buddy Tom DJ, that's

how I've gotten him on here several times. And

you know, it is what it is. Normally we do reserve

the big stuff for GCR, but you know, some of

the stuff always ends up on the other feeds like

the top of hundreds and things like that and

whatever else. But yeah, you haven't heard, I

think episode 299 was a month or so ago maybe

or something like that. So yeah, GCR is kind

of like a sporadic release. I will have at least

two new releases for the next two months because

my buddy Terry is going to come on and we're

going to talk about some Blackstone Cherry stuff.

And yeah, GeCast Radio folks, check out all 300

episodes, please. Because I'm going back looking

through all these pages and I'm like, we could

redo that, we could update this, we could update

that. Yeah, it's a gold mine. Yeah, it pretty

much is. Really. Which we really should go back

and revisit some of the old stuff. The ones that

I was looking at was all the top 10s we did,

the top 10 movies that we did, like the action

movies and the westerns and the sci -fi and the

fantasy and the this and the that and the whatever.

Like I was looking at all of those and I'm like,

hmm. I wonder if I made a new top 50 superhero

movies list, what would be at 50 and what would

be at number one? I wonder. Could be interesting.

Yeah, especially now with the MCU basically.

Okay, it's not done. We did that episode so long

ago. I don't even remember what was out at the

time, but I know endgame Infinity War and endgame

were not out yet. So Yeah, that's gonna be very

very interesting to see what's what's gonna happen

with that in the future Anything you would like

to say to the audience sir on this feed I know

you're normally not on this feed a lot, but not

really I mean just kind of fishing for input

and thoughts and Things of that nature just because

we've been around so long. I don't want to not

provide value Like obviously this stuff that

we do we do it because we enjoy it too, but yeah,

if it's not Providing some kind of help or benefit

or something like that. There's other things

I could cover yeah, and somebody asked me at

one point or another what is the difference between

he cast radio studio 2009 and Something else

and I'm like probably all three probably I don't

know. I didn't want to I don't know anyway And

I said, this is the difference altered geek is

Steve show He covers what he wants to cover in

whatever way he wants to And if I'm along for

the ride, I follow his lead here. This isn't

technically geek cast radio is technically not

my show, but I've kind of taken the reins with

it and kind of done what I want with it. Sort

of. I have no, it's a general geek show. So whatever

topic comes up, whatever discussion comes up,

whatever anyone wants to come on and talk about,

let's do it. Let's have a conversation. Uh, this

is kind, this is, this was actually before we

started studio. This is kind of where I've kept

all the music stuff because I did the music spotlight

back in 2011. And anytime any kind of music stuff

from any of the bands that I like comes up, I'll

grab somebody that likes that band and bring

them on and say, hey, let's have a discussion.

So I don't see that changing because there's

no sense in switching that to studio because

studios 2009 is essentially our brand new show

where we talk about anything and everything in

the audio and visual medium realm. So movies,

TV, whatever, you know, or other topics. Like

we've talked about commercials on there. We've

talked about, you know, other things. We have

the podcast approach series and all that. So

yeah, that's what's going on with us here at

GeekCast Radio. We've got a lot of old things

and a lot of new things happening. And where

can the people find you online, sir? Well, they

can always find me on the Twitter's at I am,

of course, at TF2 and Mike. You can also follow

at GeekCastRadio. Of course, you can send us

email to feedback at geekcastradio .com. Just

leave in the subject line what you're emailing

us about if it's in response to Steve's request

for feedback about the website. Just put in their

website feedback. Because now is a great time

to get that info in. Cause I really won't have

time to mess with her over the next two weeks,

but it gives me something to simmer on during

those two weeks until I'm freed up again to actually

work on it. He's going to become a stallion of

the simmer on anyway. Yes. Feedback at geekcastradio

.com in the subject line. Just put in a website

feedback for Steve from, and whatever your name

is. And yeah, send us emails. Let us know. We

want to. improve and we always want to improve.

We always want to listen to what our audience

is going to tell us if they tell us anything.

They will. So yeah, please do that. And next

time, like I said, I do have a couple episodes

over the next couple of months. September 17th,

Terry Smith will be returning and we will be

recording about Blackstone Cherries live at the

Royal Albert Hall, y 'all. Concert release so

we're gonna be talking about Blackstone cherry

again And then after that I'm just gonna play

it by ear like I said, we're gonna mine through

all this old content and See what we want to

Rediscuss or have a new discussion on or any

of that kind of stuff for now I am TF2 and Mike

with Steve Megatron. Thank you for listening

until next time. Oh, yeah and unleash the geek

in you