Life as a Married Geek

Hello and welcome to episode 6 of Altered Geek

Unlimited I am your host as well for this week

actually as always I'm Running off of an old

another script from another show. I am your host

this for this week's episode Michael Powers I'm

also joined by the other host of the show Steve

Megatron Phillips. Hello This week on Altered

Geek, we've got listener feedback regarding 80s

TV shows that you can't stand. We're going to

dive a little bit into the Marvel movies because

we've been kind of heavy on the DC side. And

then we've got an excellent question. I really

should have written his name down regarding the

Married Geeks. You know what it's like to be

like maybe your wife should be answering these

questions. But I guess it's more or less how

we handle our lives being geeks. How we get them

to understand certain things. Or how they handle

us being geeks. Right. Which again, I think that's

a question for them to answer. So the listener

feedback, we are recording this show four days

early because Steve is going on a long overdue

vacation. So the listener feedback, we've been

reading all of the DC casting choices and the

feedback has been awesome. But we're going to

save going over the list until episode seven.

So we're going to jump into the feedback side

of 80s TV shows that you liked as a kid, but

you can't stand anymore. Do we mention any that

I? Mean, I think I think this came up out of

the fact that I said I have no geek nostalgia

Yeah, I think that's how that came up and I was

like, well there shows that I can't watch anymore

because they put me to sleep Not that I don't

like them. They're just badly written. Yeah,

I think that's it too or animated right, but

it's so like my My fondness that I look back

on like TV shows like GI Joe or he mentioned

like that like those those members I had a watching

and enjoying it as a kid. Those are still there

So I still treasure them. It's just that I can

no longer I cannot stand to watch them anymore

You can't enjoy them as an adult. No cannot And

that's that's kind of how transformers the original

GI Joe I pretty much watch just about every 80s

and 90s cartoon. So, I mean, it's there's a lot

I can't watch anymore because they just kind

of like, I think, put me to sleep. I think the

for me. The one before before we dive into the

listener feedback, the one series that seems

to transcend. The time for something, obviously,

this is not an 80s show, but. Batman the Animated

Series. Yeah, I definitely have to agree with

you. Actually, most of the DCAU I can pretty

much watch for this day. Most of it. On that

side, though, the writing in Batman the Animated

Series and Superman the Animated Series and Justice

League, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, the whole

Tim -verse, the Animated Series stuff, the writing

is all really solid. But the animation evolved

lot from Batman the animated series to Justice

League unlimited like some yeah in my opinion

while the series is still good Batman the animated

series some of the early animation is Not what

I remember it being when I was a kid Yeah, I

remember I watched it recently well within the

last couple of years I got my wife to watch it

and we really enjoyed it but like the first volume

first volume set or whatever was just yeah I

was a chore man I was like oh man some of the

episodes are and I've been finding that out as

I've been going through because in Legends of

the Dark Knight another podcast that I host what

do you do like Blanchard and I are going through

we're going through all the episodes like the

entire series of batman the animated series doing

all the animated films from the animated series

the dcau and then we're going through to batman

beyond we've already finished all of batman the

animated series through the new adventures and

then uh or the adventures of batman and robin

are the new adventures of batman and superman

and it's the first season is kind of a chore

to get through depending on the episodes it kind

of gets better as it goes but there's certain

episodes that are just So bad that I just I could

probably put together all four volumes and make

one volume set That's actually something worth

watching right and I but like I said, I think

that that's one series that in my mind transcends

everything because you know, it started in Forgive

me here. I'm not 92. Okay night. It starts in

92 and it wraps with Justice League Unlimited

in 2005 so yeah that spans like 13 years yeah

and you have all of the dcau in between there

right and so it's like it it just got you know

they kept refining on a look um and they and

they and they got it and it's a it it works it's

just you know when you start at the beginning

um it's just really it's just really rough um

now that said a lot of these other shows that

people mention um were strictly for the most

part from 80s except for One that a few Jason

Ritter mentioned that I just can't agree with

but we'll get to that Dan Another contributor

to geek cast radio movie revolt some people might

know him that way Says I can't really watch any

80s kids cartoons. They all appear cheap to me

I tried watching some of the old G .I. Joe on

Netflix, and I could only make it a few minutes.

Besides 80s stuff, I also tried watching Reboot,

and that has not aged well. The first season,

at least. Cannot blame them, as CGI has come

quite a long way. Well, I can't disagree with

what he said. Well, I can't disagree with him

at all. That's where I'll leave it. But being

I have Reboot... and the fact that it was the

first mainframe animated television series and

the first CGI cartoon. It was monumental to everything

that's come since. Right. But I will agree that

the CGI has not aged well on that show in the

first season. It gets better as it goes. Definitely

by the fourth season it's much better. But by

then it had kind of tapered off and there's been

kind of rumors of them trying to resurrect it,

but I doubt it. But for me, I think the best

thing to come out of mainframe at that time period

was Beast Wars, and they had a nice evolution

between that and Beast Machines, where the art

just got really refined as it went along. Real

edgy, dark, shadowy. I mean, they had all kinds

of elements that weren't there in the first season.

Yeah, I think... I don't remember watching Reboot

that much as a kid. It's weird. I didn't have

access to a lot of like when when reboot and

stuff was on and like the the spider -man show

that gets mentioned later I didn't have like

wasn't like a normal kid on Saturday morning

where I could get up and watch cartoons but dad

was like we're gonna get up and go to the library

and I was like damn you dad I don't want to go

to the library but no that's where we went and

so I never really got to watch any of these so

I don't have the again I don't have the nostalgia

for them But I have I did recently well back

in like 2009 so it's not really recent, but I

did watch Beast Wars I can't remember if I downloaded

all of it or if it or at the time if it was on

Netflix I think I downloaded all of it. It just

went on Netflix last year. Okay, so I did I did

download it, but I can't The only issue I had

with Beast Wars was the writing because they

tried to throw in like the computer terms and

those computer like like I really can't think

of a line off the top of my head, but Rhinox

used them all the time and it was like I They

worked in the mid 90s, but watching them like

in the late 2000s like it just doesn't play,

right? I'm like, that's not even even a lot of

stuff. That's Well, like, you know, there he

says, you know a lot of it like they say Oh slag

or they say blast or you know, some of that stuff

which is you know, that's still fine, but a lot

better than whiskers Yeah. Whiskers. But you

have Cheetor go and jump in gyros or, you know,

and, oh, you know, all kinds of goofy terms in

there. But I mean, it works well with the show.

No, it does. But that's not what I was what I

was talking about was like when they were talking

about like the tech side of something, it's megabytes

of data. It's tons. Yeah, it's like. Yeah, yes

This show is megabytes of data. I'm sorry So

but I enjoyed it. I don't think I finished Beast

Wars It gets better like the first season is

is kind of rough cut and they do start making

ties to generation one transformers in that That's

not so they make are very good Season two gets

even more like they start renovating everything

getting everything a little bit grittier and

less Polygon shape type stuff. It's more smooth

and refined and then this third season gets kind

of They start adding water into the elements

of things and they start I think I watch season

I stopped somewhere in season 3 season 3 is great

like it's It goes back even to the arc and the

nemesis from generation 1 and okay you have Simon

Furman writing the very last episode Sorry, it's

he's a Well renowned transformers comic writer

I think I made it somewhere into season three

and I stopped so yeah, I mean I can see the Like

the anime the computer animated stuff that was

like a pioneering that was pioneering computer

animation for TV I can see that you know and

Some of the dialogue in those shows being that

there are tech oriented Yeah might not play as

a reboot. I wonder how well does Like the dialogue

is badly aged. Okay. Okay. It's bad Like it's

I I have a hard time watching it to this day

like to enjoy watching it it's like It's it's

like watching Transformers generation 1 but in

like the CG Equivalent of animation like it's

not very good. Okay, and yeah GI Joe almost the

GI Joe transformers those the animation in them

does look I do agree with it looking cheap because

yes it's not I mean it's just yeah obviously

the animation processes just weren't there uh

that we have now it's so much so refined nowadays

yeah and and that's you know sometimes it's a

good thing and i think a lot of it you know again

it's sometimes it's a stylistic choice the way

something looks nowadays more so than i don't

know kind of like retro like current gen games

being like pixel using pixel art and getting

callbacks to like retro stuff i don't know i

just want to weigh off the rails there um uh

the next comment we have is from jason ritter

um thank you for writing in He says and this

is the one this is the one I can't agree with

because this is one of my favorite shows He says

my cartoon don't know why I was wait My cartoon

don't know why I was a fan of it is fosters home

for imaginary friends I'm trying to figure out

if he doesn't like fosters Or if he just can't

figure out why he was a fit this. I'm sorry I

didn't read his comment before just it's like

he doesn't understand why he was a fan of it,

but he likes it Okay liked it at the time I love

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, but I like

that whole, I like Greg McCracken and Gendi Tarkovsky

and all those guys over at Cartoon Network. You

know, like the guys that made Powerpuff Girls,

Dexter's Laboratory, Foster's, Samurai Jack.

Got any problems? Yeah. No, I like all those

guys. I love all those old shows. They just don't

make them like that anymore. No, they don't.

He also goes on to say I Am also not a Power

Rangers fan and I and I watch it When I watched

it kid, but nowadays I remember it being really

goofy when I watched as a kid I was half and

half on some episodes. I really liked and I watched

And I watched two episodes that I hated and I

never watched that show ever again, so that's

why I'm not a big fan of it anymore That's one

of those shows that really doesn't age, only

for the fact that it still looks like it came

from the 90s. I'm tempted to give it my 1 -2

try for TV shows, just for the first two episodes

a shot. There are seasons to watch, but I would

say to consult Scotty Cash, who's pretty well

known for his From the Command Center. video

and audio series. He pretty much knows what's

kind of bad and good, but I can honestly say

anything with Jason David Frank and it is pretty

much good. Which is the original. He's the original

Green Ranger. How long does it take for him to

show up in season? Is he even in the first season?

He's in the first season. OK. I think he jumps

in. It's not too far. I think it's like maybe

halfway if that. And then he's in it for the

light there. from then on until beginning a turbo.

But I didn't get into turbo. I dropped out by

Zio and he pulls back up later as an older like

teacher figure and Dino Thunder. I was I was

thinking I'd give it it's the my my tried and

true method of you get two episodes to get me

hooked or I'm walking. So maybe I'll try it tomorrow

while I'm at work. So I think there's like the

green of evil five parter. Where it's he's introduced.

I believe aren't we getting ready to cover that

and From the command center. Yeah. Yeah, they're

gonna do the commentaries on them. Ah So yeah,

they're getting ready to gear up for that. So

We have Foster's home for imaginary friends.

I I still love that I have the entire season

on my computer tire series on my computer. I

just I know I laugh a lot at that because the

writing in it is so The writing more than anything

is really good, but I do appreciate the the flat

2d art style of it um Do you want to read the

next one? Yes, I can jump into Sean Alteria's

Who says one cartoon I have trouble watching

is the 90s spider -man I don't hate watching

it just the animation appears so poor at times

it throws me off especially how they reuse stuff

so much and the 3D animation looks so poor when

it shows up. Again, another comment that I personally

agree with because I tried watching it when it

showed up on Netflix again and I just couldn't

do it. I watched it when it was new. I can't

watch it anymore. Yeah, like this is one of the

shows that was on on Saturday mornings when I

was trying to go to the live My dad was taking

me to the library. So, you know, I caught a couple

episodes here and there and just like on the

lap on the last episode I mentioned, you know

the neighbors up the street. They had all the

spider -man toys. So I played with all their

spin -ran toys I just I can't watch I tried watching

it again because I Now it's unfortunate is This

just goes back to you know, the animation process

is better like spectacular spider -man which

came out just a couple years ago That uses a

hybrid mix of like animation and some CG kind

of like the 90s spider -man did but it's really

good. It looks really good and the writing was

top -notch too and that kind of in that got cancelled

and it got replaced with ultimate spider -man

which is Also really good, but you have to have

some Some sort some place in your heart for the

Teen Titans cartoon show I I have that small

spot in my heart for the Teen Titans TV show

because I didn't I didn't I didn't think that

it was like continuity with the DCAU I was actually

able to just like sit down and watch it for what

it is and I also like even though Teen Titans

is not anime I I enjoy anime so I was able to

enjoy what they did in that series. Plus my friend

kind of explained to me how the seasons worked

and that made everything a lot better. But they

have that same kind of off the wall humor. because

it's Peter Parker as a kid and they're trying

to show that he's got like this crazy imagination

and kind of like where his quips come from. So

sometimes when he makes fun of like a villain

as he's wanted to do, they will show the villain

in the context of which he made fun of them.

Nice. It's humorous. It grates on you. It grated

on me a little bit in the beginning because I

was a big fan of Spectacular Spider -Man and

this was not Spectacular Spider -Man anymore.

They just had a really funny episode with Deadpool.

So if you take like Teen Titans and you throw

in Spider -Man and then you throw in Deadpool

on top of that, that was a crazy episode because

Deadpool is known for breaking the fourth wall

in the comics, because he knows he's in a comic

book. And now he knew he was in a TV show. But

yeah, if you like Spider -Man at all, I would

suggest... checking those uh those two series

out but do agree with you know the look of that

show um being for the most part unwatchable and

what's really what really bums me out is with

a lot of these things kind of like with batman

the animated series the animation improves over

time but the beginning of it is so marred in

subpar animation it makes it hard to get to that

spot and i don't like skipping ahead in the series

No, and in a lot of times it makes it difficult

to want to watch it To get to that point right?

Do you want to read Thomas Blake's list of show

yeah, yep We've received his by email, and yes,

we got some of the other ones which were mostly

about the DC stuff Which again will cover when

we get to episode 7? But this this one in particular

was his list of shows from his youth that he

could no longer enjoy He has the 1987 Teenage

Mutant Ninja Turtles GI Joe Super Friends, Filmation's

Ghostbusters, He -Man, She -Ra, Mask and all

the Super Mario cartoon series Now is the Filmation

Ghostbusters is that the Ghostbusters that spawned

the toy line? I don't know. I'm not familiar

with that one. I know that there's the real Ghostbusters.

OK, so this is that that's what I'm thinking

of. This is not this is a completely different.

Yeah, I don't think this is the real Ghostbusters.

I could be wrong that he might be. I think Filmation

may have done that, too, but I don't know. OK.

Well, you'd think one of us has a computer in

front of us. We could look this up. To the Google's.

Yeah, let's see here. I guess you can probably

faster than I am. Let's see here. Filmation Ghostbusters,

1986 series. It's an animated television series

created by Filmation. It's following the success

of the Ivan Reitman, Columbia Pictures, 1984

Ghostbusters. It is not to be confused with the

animated show, The Real Ghostbusters. Which was

based on the 84 film. This is based on a live

action television show from the 1975 The Ghost

Busters. Oh, OK. All right. So it's different.

OK. I've heard of this, but I've never actually

seen it. Yeah, I've heard of it as well, but

I've never seen it. According to the thing, it's

got like Pat Fraley, who voiced crying and Ninja

Turtles and Peter Cullen, who's Optimus Prime.

OK. GI Joe, we've talked about. Yep. TMNT, you

know, I have no way of watching those right now.

I have them all on MP or M4V files. OK. So I'll

get those to you. I don't even know if you should

try. Maybe you should just send me two of them

and we'll start from there. Mean I again this

goes back to like I remember watching it all

as a kid. I remember the going to the video store

and Renting like the entire like every volume

they had on the shelf on a Friday night and getting

crappy Little Caesars pizza and Watching them

all all over the weekend in the basement. I just

I Don't I just have a funny. I have a very funny

feeling. It's gonna end up being Just like all

the rest of the shows and this is one of the

ones where this is where I made the argument

of Like that that I have no geek nostalgia So

I don't get irritated when the newt when the

stuff gets Rebooted or remade for now because

now I get to go and buy the toys So I get you

know, I said this on the last episode but this

is this is one of those series like I have the

current Nickelodeon, Michelangelo, Donatello,

Leonardo and Raphael sitting on top of my entertainment

center. I display them with pride. I do not have

them in a collector's case in a room somewhere

else in my house. They are out for everyone to

come and see because I like the Ninja Turtles.

But I just and I do like the new Nickelodeon

series. I just don't know that I would like the

1987 series anymore. The 87 series. Feel I could

watch more so than any of the other ones on this

list or a couple of the other ones that we've

mentioned before I think I could watch this one

over watching the Transformers cartoons the pre

the 84 one only because The animation seems a

lot better than a lot of the stuff that came

out of the 80s and some of the 90s I remember

it's absurdly colorful. Yeah in It's not badly

colorful because they do have a lot of different

shadings and stuff I would say that the animation

is definitely stronger in the beginning than

it is later Only because they get really bright

and colorful with a lot of things like they they

almost get kind of sloppy and There's voice actor

changes later on multiple times It's It's good,

but I've only actually seen through the fourth

season because after that that's when everything

started spiraling out of control You know the

way you're describing the progression of Teenage

Mutant Ninja Turtles is reminding me of another

90s cartoon That had the same problem that nobody

what probably because we went for 80s, but I

think we just said child childhood shows right

I think so it was X -Men Yeah, they got really

bad that yeah, I I um watched all that back in

2004 2005 before I got into x -men evolution

and Man the end like the animation starts out

barely solid and gets and then it just goes to

complete crap Like well, not only that but it

seems like a lot of these shows the longer they

went coming out of the 80s or very very early

90s if they didn't have a complete reboot or

A point where they refined and started over but

kind of kept the storyline kind of going a little

bit It seems like the shill crashed and burned

like the DCA you did it perfectly in the 90s

in every couple of years they restart kind of

a little bit, but keeping the familiarity but

upgrading things so there was a natural progression

whereas these shows seem to hang too long in

the same look and You got people that were bored

or moved elsewhere or It's like they kind of

lost their way as the story progressed and didn't

know where they were going or it was a budgetary

concern Yes, animation isn't really cheap and

they probably wanted to keep I think that's kind

of what happened I might have been what happened

with Teenage Mutant Turtles because it's definitely

what happened with x -men the animated series

because sloppy well like the original voice of

the shredder in Teenage Mutant Turtles was Uncle

Phil from Fresh Prince okay, and After he got

that show the Fresh Prince show he jumped off

turtles And then they replaced him with a couple

different voice actors and Jim Cummings eventually

ended up doing it Who is famous for like Darkwing

Duck and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger and stuff

like that? But uh And then you know they replaced

crying you know a couple times they replaced

Raphael, which was Rob Paulson at one point I

mean they they constantly were replacing voice

people on there, and then like the show just

started getting highly convoluted at points It

it was just it went down the crapper right And

I think he man and she ra they suffer from the

same phase GI Joe in my book Think those are

honestly worse I'd rather watch GI Joe than like

then watch those because at least I can see that

because I can I can imagine GI Joe is like one

-off little mini movies whereas He meant is she

right I can't sit two minutes through or mask

Yeah, well, I I remember all the toys from ask.

I mean again. I had all I had access to all this

stuff You know my mom working Toys R Us and Kmart

and so I had I had the entire collection of He

-Man and She -Ra and Mask, but I got nothing

for it. And the sad part is I actually have nothing

to show for it either. I don't have boxes with

the toys stored away in an attic somewhere. They

either got passed down to a little sibling and

they got destroyed or they got sold out of Graz

or something. Only have three GI Joe figures

to date and I bought them like within the last

three years Because they were like a 25th anniversary

boy All of them Cobra commander in various Uniforms

and then ninja turtles I have one original figure

left and that's the giant body crank which is

badly badly damaged from where you know and it

bothers me because You can't buy it except for

like spending eighty five to like two hundred

dollars to get one in good condition. That really

OK. That story kind of bums me out because my

friend does a deep garage sale in Grand Rapids,

Michigan. And the first time I went out there,

he loves the Ninja Turtles and he collects them

like shelves in his basement. And I told him

that I have I have that crank that you're talking

about. The big body. Oh, I had it. The problem

is it was in, you know, the Teenage Mutant Ninja

Turtles tub and that got passed down to my little

brother and that tub has disappeared. And my

mom doesn't know if it's just, like, stored somewhere

in the house or if he destroyed every toy that

ended up getting thrown away or if it was sold

at a garage sale. But I had that crane. I had

the crane thing. I had the door for the, you

know, the torso piece to keep him in the body.

All the limbs were attached. The thing was, like,

in, I mean... Obviously it's not in perfect condition

because it was in a tub getting banged around

with everything, but all the pieces were there

I can't find it. I keep telling you if I ever

find it. I'm gonna give it to him, but I can't

I'm never gonna find it Yeah, I I have that the

doors gone one of the limbs is missing off Krang's

brain himself I don't have any of the weapons

But Yeah, I still have most of it. It's just

not great condition. So if I ever find any of

the components, I'm gonna put it back together.

It's battle damage crank. Yes, it's battle damage.

I used permanent marker to repaint some of the

paint on it back in the day. Now the Mario cartoons,

I have never seriously watched any of it. They're

bad. And this is what's being covered in pixels

in the animation? Yes, that's what they're covering

right now, and it's it's a travesty to even listen

to it I'm sorry Mike. I'm sorry. I'm sorry TFG

one It's I can't help it that that show is so

terrible like not pixels in the animation But

the Mario Brothers that they're covering, but

if you're a fan of the Mario Brothers stuff Check

out that show that is true And then we've got

one last one It's 51 the machine man who is art

Danner my co -host over on off the cuff Okay,

that explains a lot. Yeah, I was like who the

hell's this yeah He says TV shows I can't stand

that I loved as a kid thundercats Alf small wonder

and Voltron Do I know what small wonder is? Clue

I've never heard of that I know what all the

rest of them are. Yeah, I've seen them all um

thundercats I agree with but again Well, actually

I can't even say again because they had the toy

lineup and I did kind of enjoy I enjoyed the

remake outside of the whiskers Whiskers I enjoyed

it outside of that. Um, but I didn't go out and

buy any of the toys Um, maybe that's why it got

cancelled. Um Never actually I know what elf

is but I don't think i've ever actually seen

an episode in voltron. Um Voltron's been rebooted

a couple of times, but I haven't watched any

of the newer stuff. It gets cancelled every time

so it's not really worth watching. Right. Do

we find out what Small Wonder is yet? It's a...

There's, it's a storyline revolves around Vicky,

an acronym for voice input child. I dedicate

an Android in the form of a ten -year -old girl

that was built by an engineer inventor. Yeah

in an effort to assist handicapped children is

what it's I I've never heard of this. Yeah, it

says When was it on? 1989 Okay, or 85 to 89 and

They said in the little description is to explain

the child actress aging process during the show

the series producers gave the Vicky character

and upgrade in the series third season to age

her and dress her more modern clothes and allowed

to eat and drink. I was like, wow, I don't even

know what this is. I'm glad I haven't seen it.

Yeah, I I'm kind of like. Never heard of that.

Well, we are. About 30 minutes in Do we want

to go into the married geeks or do we want to

do Marvel and then the married geeks or do? What

do you just married geeks and hold the Marvel

for the next episode? We could lightly touch

on Marvel first, okay Why don't we just ask the

question does anybody care about the Marvel movies

anymore because Thor is getting is coming up

really quick And I don't hear anybody talking

about it Hear everybody talking about Avengers

2 and whether Downey jr. Is gonna play Iron Man

and or like any further They're gonna kill his

character or whatever Yeah, I don't hear anything

about Thor. I don't think anybody honestly gives

a crap anymore Other than the Avengers films

I I saw the new I Saw the new Thor trailer today

cuz I went and saw kick -ass 2 For a second time

right before we sat down to record I saw the

new Thor trailer and I Thor looks like, visually,

it looks like the movie I wanted the first Thor

to be. I did not like the first Thor. I thought

it was way, I didn't feel like there was enough

grit to it. Like, everything was really pristine.

Yeah, I was let down by that movie. I didn't

really like it. But it looks like the new Thor

or, you know, the Dark World, it addresses the

concerns I have with the look of the first film,

at least from what the trailer shows me. And

the trailer was really really impressive There's

just one scene in the trailer and again the trailer

might not play Unlike most trailers these days

where they spoil the entire movie for you from

beginning to end This there's a scene towards

the end in the trailer that could take place

early on in the movie So it's kind of like one

of those things. I still got to wait to see How

the actual movie plays out but going by what

the trailer has shown I am I I'm worried that

this that Thor is gonna fall into the same hole

that Iron Man 3 did for me because Okay, I didn't

enjoy Iron Man 3 I felt like it and I take a

lot of shit for this but I felt like it it I

felt like Iron Man 3 should have been Iron Man

2 because it felt very isolated and I kept waiting

for either S .H .I .E .L .D. to call Tony Stark

or for Tony Stark to call S .H .I .E .L .D. because

I failed to see how the President of the United

States is Tony Stark's problem and not a S .H

.I .E .L .D. Captain America problem. And over

time, thinking about it, I really started to

hate on Joss Whedon for killing Agent Coulson.

Yeah, he would have been perfect in Iron Man

3 showing up right because that's what and and

that was what was important about his character

in the in the lead -up to the Avengers as he

was the guy that popped in for About you know

four or five minutes at a time if that you know

just kind of popped in gave shield a presence

in the movie and That was it Yeah, Iron Man 2

got a little bloated with the with with the shield

presence and stuff like that, but he was the

connective tissue between Captain America and

Thor and Iron Man, bringing them into the Avengers,

and they didn't have that in Iron Man 3. And

I'm worried that there's a scene in Thor that

takes place on Earth, and it's kind of like,

okay, if they're fighting on Earth, if gods are

fighting on Earth, how is this not... Shield

problem a shield problem, you know, so it's one

of those things it showed like I said it shows

up at the end of the trailer but if that scene

takes place in the beginning of the movie and

You know Thor's playing like a defensive role

and then they get sucked out to Asgard Awesome.

I'm just saying The way that the trailer shows

it is that the fight on earth also like that.

There's a fight on earth at the beginning There's

the Asgard stuff and there's a fight on earth

at the end and it just seems like if they come

back to the fight it on Earth at the end and

I don't know it's I don't feel like Marvel's

done a good job with their movies post Avengers

because I haven't answered that question of How

do they not just pick up the phone and assemble

the Avengers? Yeah And I don't like Marvel's

answer of oh just wait until Captain America

because that's what you're that's where we're

going to going to explain what shields been doing

the entire time it's like No, I want your movies

to stand on their own It's fine that you have

connective tissues to the other movies, but they

should they should make sense and stand on their

own Yeah, you should be able to watch Iron Man

1 2 & 3 and not have to watch Avengers if you

don't need to So I don't know yeah, I kind of

get that though that it's kind of Getting convoluted

at this point. It's it's just good. They're just

getting sloppy Well, they aren't keeping anything

cohesive and I agree Iron Man 3 should have been

Iron Man 2, but I mean, yeah, it kind of, I mean,

I know it's supposed to fit after Avengers and

he's supposed to have kind of lost it and created

all these armors, but at the same time, it was

kind of, I don't know, stupid. Well, don't, but

don't you feel like just going back to the Iron

Man movie for a second, right? Okay, so Iron

Man 2 has the big shield presence that everybody

hated. Oh, it was huge. shield presence but i

didn't hate that i actually i like that i like

seeing all like the lore and tony stark's dad

and all that stuff and i feel like if iron man

3 had been iron man 2 so you don't have to worry

about your shield presence yeah but iron man

2 had been iron man 3 that would have been a

logical progression right tony's got the ego

complex going on you know he's like got that

kind of got You rearrange a couple scenes and

it makes sense. You know, Tony's got the ego

complex going on in this world where he thinks

he's All that and then she'll comes in and slap

and he gets drunk because he took oh, you know,

he saved he flew through a portal and and with

a nuclear warhead strapped to his back and that's

why he goes on this like drunken spiral of like

going all crazy and stuff and he incurs the wrath

of whiplash and You know shields that comes down

puts the smack on him Would anybody have complained

then? No, because S .H .I .E .L .D. would have

been monitoring him. Like whereas S .H .I .E

.L .D. didn't like S .H .I .E .L .D. would have

been monitoring the fact that he disappeared

off the face of the earth and the fact that these

guys are creating these super soldiers. Yeah,

like I think in it goes back to the Colson thing.

One phone call like, you know. Maria Hill, or

even just Samuel L. Jackson, like they didn't

have to show them. It could have been like when

he was checking his voicemail messages. Well,

they could have just phoned it in. Yeah, like

it could have like, like I said, when he's checking

his voicemail messages or like someone could

have called him or Jarvis said, hey, Shields

been trying to get a hold of you, sir. Like.

Something that didn't make his world seem so

small, clearly after the world has gotten so

much bigger. Yeah, would have. In my in my opinion

just would have helped that movie and I like

I I like the movie. I just feel like not having

that kind of just Rex it for me because I kind

of I was I was looking for it the entire time

I was like, how is this? How does this exist

in a post Avengers world? How are they gonna

do this when you know, he knows about gods and

they do kind of address the gods and they do

all address all that stuff, but it's like shields

no longer monitoring him anymore and And they're

not asking him to save the president. He's just

making it his responsibility I just I don't know.

I The setup just really kind of irked me about

it i'm worried that the same thing's gonna happen

with thor, but I guess the the overall question

here is Does anybody still care about the marvel

movie the individual marvel movies or do we just

want avengers 2 like I mean, and i've heard good

things about thor in captain america, too Honestly

think at this point, I think people would rather

just see them assembled I don't think anybody

honestly cares about the individual films at

this point I mean, yeah, it was great introducing

them all but I think after they finished, you

know the Captain America 2 Thor 2 stuff Okay

fun back there. I'm sorry. Yeah she's losing

her brain, but uh, yeah, I think at this point

they just I think they just need to stick with

doing the Avengers films and stop doing the individual

ones right And that's probably why DC is kind

of glossed over the fact that all this you know

Marvel stuff is going on with their whole Batman

and Everything else that's been going on I still

think the individual DC movies especially like

the Nolan trilogy like I like I enjoy those movies

more than any of the Marvel Marvel movies and

I'm just gonna go ahead and say I didn't like

the Avengers I mean I like the Avengers for the

dynamic of the characters that they had in it

the overall story some of it was lacking but

I overall enjoy like the interactions of some

of them and how they they got like even the Hulk

was done properly in the film well let me okay

let me try to rephrase that I I enjoy the Avengers

I do not pile on the praise the way other People

have no I I don't understand why it gets all

the praise that it gets But I guess I do like

it I do like the movie I just don't get the praise

like for me It's a good movie like there are

movies that I like way more than the Avengers

It's just you know, I'm pretty sure if I was

making the top 10 list Avengers wouldn't even

be on it. So But I'm not a Joss Whedon guy I

love Firefly, I love Serenity, I can care less

about his other stuff. Well, the only thing I

like that he's done is the Avengers. I don't

really much care for him otherwise. I'm looking

forward to the Shield TV show, but that's it.

I think it's going to get either cancelled really

quickly or it's going to last a couple seasons

and they're going to end up dragging it out.

Eventually, you know, they're gonna have to include

somebody from the Avengers films or it's gonna

die off or it'll go the other way The someone

from the show will go to the Avengers We'll go

to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They exist

in the same thing and yeah supposedly the ultimate

spider -man cartoon show and The new Avengers

cartoon show that's coming this fall are part

of that duty. Yes Okay Funny a little bit of

trivia Agent Colson is the principal at Peter

Parker's school. Oh That's funny. He's undercover.

It's principal Cole. It's principal Colson nice

But he's yes, and it's the same voice that it's

it's the same guy. Oh That's really cool So it's

it's and it's pretty and Stan Lee is the janitor

The school so he was the janitor and something

else. I think wasn't he? Honestly, I can't remember

all the cameos he's had yeah But that's that

that's all we can say about the Marvel movies

right now that you know that I want to say say

right now So but let us know what you think.

Are you guys still excited for the Marvel movies?

Would you rather just then just get to Avengers

2 and be done with it? Yeah, the other thing

is you know Thor and Captain America weren't

the blockbusters that Iron Man was no So well

iron man's been like the entire anchor of the

marvel cinematic universe. Yeah So we'll see

and much like much like what dc is trying to

do with superman But it's going to ultimately

come back down to batman, right? Because that's

really the only thing that they can bank on Well,

it might not It may or may not pan out that remains

to be seen. We have yet to see if it will be

bankable Because yeah, it's not there's a lot

of ifs going on. Yeah Anyways. Married geeks.

How do we want to tackle this? I've been I've

been kind of thinking about how to how to tackle

this. I mean, OK, I guess we can start kind of

start from the beginning, right? When you first

met your wife, when you first started dating,

did you put it out there that you were a geek

like? She, I think, could kind of tell. Because

one I always had CD player for one like and I

was always like jotting down website crap So

or I've always been referred to as the IMDB Mobile

edition, okay, because I know crap that most

people don't As far as who's in what, I memorize

all kinds of films. I don't try to. It just kind

of happens. Oh, yeah. So. Yeah, she's always

known I've been like a film geek, a cartoon geek.

I collected toys up until like six years ago.

What's the extent of your geekiness that like

like I maybe we should have started there like

what's the extent of the geekiness that your

wife has? Has to or had to deal with So they

have Well, I mean for instance doing these podcasts

and you know doing all this kind of content that's

one of the things she kind of has to I Would

say put up with from time to time because Not

gonna lie Sometimes she gets annoyed that I do

these Do three nights a week? Yeah, but now you

have a successful one true still drives her nuts

She's like You always on the computer or I always

want like for instance the other geeky thing

is I always want something more that's additionally

geeky. Like, for instance, I see a video game

I want. I'm like, I want it. I see a DVD I want.

I want it. I see a comic. I see a toy. I see

a piece of electronics. My geekiness ranges from

owning DVDs of stuff that I probably won't actually

watch all that much and could settle with Netflix

or other alternatives, or a constant upgrade

of my machine buying comics just I mean, it's

it's all different ranges, but I guess before

I get into any more of that, I guess you go ahead

and mention some of yours. Yeah, actually, I'm

kind of the same way I. You know, I read a lot

of the tech stuff, I follow a lot of the tech

stuff on Twitter. I love movies. I have, you

know, I'm big. big video gamer. Obviously, just

for funsies, because I was really bored a couple

weeks ago, I went through and did a rough estimate

of how much I spent on gaming this last generation.

Which, rough estimate here, and obviously people

spend more or less on this, but I have spent

Probably between seven and eight grand This last

generation like alone And that doesn't really

that that doesn't account for Like digital games

that I have on Steam that doesn't account for

all the self all the iPhones that I've bought

and because you know each one of those You know,

you can play games on whatever but that's also

like a piece of gaming hardware tech, whatever

what have you Doesn't account for digital copies

of any Game that I may or may not have Set numbers

actually probably it I don't think it's more

than 8 ,000, but it's probably somewhere in the

middle and I for the record I started dating

my wife in 2008 and I didn't go full bore into

I actually met her Four months after I got my

PlayStation 3 in The fall of 2007 so that's why

that's why I really like fell like in into like

the the video game stuff that I'm in in now I've

gone through Three Xbox 360s Wow to PlayStation

3s I've got a Vita I've got I've gone through

two DS's Actually, I've got a DS and I've got

a 3DS and all the games that go along with them

I love tech just like you. I like upgrading my

computer. I like I Like I like upgrading my phone

every year because I'm able to so I do that regardless

of whether I really need to or not I I'm a big

movie guy just like you I i am obsessed and it's

probably because my projection is at a movie

theater as well i am obsessed with tvs obsessed

with them um i yeah you know i my wife and i

bought a tv a year and a half ago real nice tv

and i told her i said this one's gonna last this

one's gonna last i did i did like months and

months and months of research on it and uh we

went out and bought it and everything and Now,

a year and a half later, I'm going, I think I

want to look at another TV. And I've got her

thinking about it, thinking about it, thinking

about it. So, yeah, I like all that stuff. So

I guess. Now, I guess what the next logical progression

of the conversation is, how do you get your wife

to be OK with that stuff? Right yeah, is that

the next is that where you were gonna go to next

is how yeah, okay? So how do you get to be okay

with that Steve? Well like I've known I've known

her since 2003 when we started dating and everything

and then got married in 2009 and Some things

she'll let me buy and then other things she's

like you're wasting your money like in the essence

of I used to go out and buy Pretty much every

Megatron figure I could find or like certain

action figures like specific ones well most of

that I Spent money I didn't have For one didn't

care about anything. I was just like yeah, just

go buy it And then, to begin with, she was bailing

my ass out all the time. But eventually I kind

of got over the buying figures, unless it was

specific things that I really, really, really

wanted. But I've kind of dabbled in a little

bit of everything over the years, but with her

I kind of have to pick and choose. She's okay

with it if it's something that she can tell I

really want Which she can tell us most of the

time it's not all that often because I As I get

into a new thing that I used to like for instance.

I've jumped back and forth between transformers

GI Joe Star Trek Batman Ninja Turtles every time

I start watching something that I had a previous

nostalgia for I get full force back into it.

Like, because of Blanchard, I'm into Power Rangers

again, which I don't know why, but I still, for

some reason, the nostalgia glasses are on and

I enjoy some of it still. So I actually went

back and watched it on Netflix, so I probably

will never buy the series in any capacity, just

because I can watch it for free on Netflix. But

now I find myself wanting one of their Power

Morphers. Just from the from the Mighty Morphin

show the original but the ones that they they

would hold in their hand like this Okay, like

I know people can't see what I'm talking about.

Okay, you're helping me though because yes, I'm

helping I'm helping you get a person I'm sitting

over here doing a little circle thing. It's like

the it's like the Kamehameha or Hadoken blast

they they hold the the power morpher that comes

off their belt It's the power coins. Okay, it's

before the it's before the keys But I like the

green ranger and white ranger. So I want that

specific one Well, the only way you can get that

is the San Diego comic -con one and it's like

three hundred dollars on eBay so I Of course,

I'm not going to spend that kind of money if

you want the legacy one which has all five of

the other Rangers I don't care about You can

get it at like Toys R Us for his list 60 bucks

Well to me that's 60 bucks I could spend on something

that's actually gonna serve a purpose like a

game Tres whereas a toy is going to sit on the

shelf now. I do I want it. Oh, yes I would love

to have that I'm not gonna lie. I would love

to have it just like the ninja turtles like communicator

I'd love to have that or like another Star Trek

classic communicator like I I got in a phase

where I was buying all the metal communicator

pins Or attempting to so I found out how much

money they were costing and then I was like no

I'm done Like the ones that they tap on their

shirt or the other the other kinds But I mean

every time I switch subjects. I want something

new like I was at some point going to commission

a mask of one of the Batman costume type things

Okay Because I like the helmet and I was like,

well that would be really cool to have yeah,

I'm like Can I afford $250 not really but I would

like to have fun Have you ever thought about

just going and picking up one of the Halloween

cow cows? Yeah, those are not very good usually.

Yeah, but you're just displaying it, right? No,

I thought I would actually make a batman costume

out of it So that well like I was that that's

why I had the interest in the the cosplay thing

only because I would never wear it other than

Halloween But I think would be because the costumes

are sufficient, but the masks are horrible, right?

so I would swap out the mask that that would

be my extent of change like doing a cheap costume,

but Like I mean that for me that's that's kind

of what it is my wife kind of realizes that because

like when Tron legacy came out I wanted one of

the power discs I mean it was just stupid shit

every time one of you know I get back into something

or I enjoy something I'm like well I have to

have something related to that subject like some

kind of a nostalgia thing so I'm Constantly going

after so like specific things like my computer

upgrade she let me do that finally this year

because My computer was at this point a dinosaur

It was like six years old and that was only because

six years ago I went behind her back and upgraded

my computer and then she's like where the hell

this $350 bill come from and the credit card

So I learned never to do that again, but it's

always nice to Beg to the point of breaking down

I have to say but You know it's specific things

like I mean she let me buy my microphone for

the podcast because she knew I would actually

use it Day and day out and I got the the pop

screen filter and I got the webcam which she

got for me for Christmas which I've done an actual

video show with since I got it. We're using it

my cell phone. Yes. I'm using it now which is

mostly for communicating with you, so it's like

a in -room experience, but Eventually, I'm going

to do a web show with it again soon as I can

talk her into getting me a green sheet with a

green for the green screen. That'll come. I'm

not worried about it when I get a house that

hopefully soon. But I mean, yeah, there's to

that extent, I mean, it's it's kind of you have

to weigh your options because a lot of the time

wearing the geek nostalgia glasses, you just

want to buy crap that you don't have actual purpose

for. It's just going to sit there and you're

going to be like, why the hell did I buy this?

Right. So what do you do? Like like How do you

do you like? Do you is there like other do you

think compromises like? Do you like placate her?

Do you like I do notice that you your weekends

are dedicated towards your family, which is great.

Yeah, my weekends. I generally shut out the world

like I will reply to some Twitter conversations.

I pretty much ignore Facebook because My family

has a lot of drama on there from time to time,

almost on a daily basis. So I stay off there.

But I pretty much try and stay off the Internet

on the weekends just so that I can spend time

with my family, because during the week I'm working

and then I'm podcasting and then I'm going to

school. And then so I mean, it's just it's already

chaos. So I'm like, we'll add a few extra elements

to the chaos and it's fine. But but no. I think

that sums up my end. Well, for me, I. OK, I don't

I don't go. I think the turtle, the turtle sets,

the turtle figures that I've bought actually

almost a year ago now, I bought those and they

I think those are like the last tiny thing that

I've bought in. Usually, the stuff that I buy

is grand, like in excess of $60 or more. Unless

it's the LEGO architecture sets. I love the LEGO

architecture sets. I don't know if you've seen

them. I've seen those. Those are actually really

cool. I love them. If I had a room to display

stuff like that, I would. I have all the little,

like, $20 ones, like the Sears Tower, and yes,

I call it the Sears Tower. I will never call

it the Willis Tower. Well, it's like calling

the... For those that are local to the Flint

area, there's this arena called the IMA Sports

Arena, which is now called Pirani Arena. So all

of us normal people call it the IMA still. Yeah.

And it's like High Knob is DTE now. Thank you

for that one. It's yeah, it's it when somebody

renamed something. It's just it's ridiculous

Yeah, plus the Sears tower sounds way better

than the Willis tower Yeah, but I have those

little like $20 sets. My cats like to play with

them So now they're like on the top top shelf

of I don't display them anymore They're kind

of in they're in the green room that I'm actually

recording in right now But I've started calling

my wife, she's my justification meter. Usually

if I want something, I present it to her. Hello

kitty. This is gonna be a hard conversation.

I present I present her I present it to her and

if and I have like a proposal I say you know

I really would like this it costs this much and

this is why I want it and blah blah and she if

I can present it to her in such a way that she

doesn't roll her eyes or outright say no um I

just go ahead and buy it um because I've just

I've not only have I justified it to myself because

I already want to make the purchase But not only

have I justified it to myself, I have now over

justification because I have confirmed it with

my wife. And I can just go and do it. Now, there

are like a couple of funny little instances that

have cropped up mainly around cell phones and

about the Wii U. I like cell phones. Have a family

plan that has seven lines on it Okay, and my

I have both my parents and I've got Ali's mom

is on my is on my plan. So that's three lines

right where that are Adults, you know their parents

they they all have iPhones, but they don't really

care about getting the new iPhone, right? Okay,

so Usually the way it works out is that my upgrade

is either available for a new phone once a year

or their lines are eligible for an upgrade and

what I'll do is like I'll go out and be like

oh maybe I want to try an Android phone so I'll

go out and get you know the hundred dollar Android

phone on contract try it out for two weeks find

out I hate it sell it on Amazon for three four

hundred bucks I made you know I just made two

three hundred dollars off the phone but I locked

in my parents to another contract. They weren't

going to leave, you know, the harm in it. I've

done that. I did that most recently. I keep trying

Windows phones. I keep trying them out. I keep

trying to find like the the good Windows phone

because I do like the Windows 8 operating system.

I like the way it looks. It's completely different

from I feel like Android is too much like iOS

and iOS, my preferred platform of choice. that

like when i've used an android it doesn't behave

it looks like ios but doesn't behave like ios

and therefore i it's like nails on a chalkboard

to me okay but the windows 8 operating system

is so different and it's fresh and it's just

and i like the way that it looks visually and

i went and tried out uh just most recently here

um i was able to get a windows nokia lumia 920

or something like that it was supposed to be

like the flagship windows phone And I was able

to get it for $50 on contract at Best Buy. My

wife was like, you know, you're not going to

like it. You've had two Windows phones before

this. It's not going to be a thing. And I'm like,

yeah, but it's like $50. I can give it a shot.

I'll give it a fair shake, blah, blah, blah.

They've made a bunch of improvements and all

this other stuff. I mean, I had it justified

to me, but I didn't quite have it justified.

You know, I didn't have her quite on board with

it. Long story short, I bought the phone. Four

hours later. I had an iPhone back in my hand

literally four hours later um I Threw the phone

on Amazon and got 400 bucks for it I paid 50

I Got four I got $350 for it that pays for my

PlayStation 4 so nice Now that's one where the

justification didn't quite match up and now recently

I've been I've brought up, you know, building

my own computer like you did, or, you know, the

Wii U dropped 50 bucks and I brought it up to

her. I said, you know, the Wii U dropped 50 dollars.

I was thinking about picking it up again. She

goes, you've already had one and you didn't even

like it. You sold it. I was like, you know, and

I tell her, I said, you know, I bought it when

it was brand new under the promise that Nintendo

would release games that I wanted to play in

the first Four months the system would be out

and Nintendo didn't deliver I actually sold it

right after the PlayStation 4 reveal to buy a

Vita I sold it for I got I got exactly what I

paid for it. I sold it for what I what I paid

for it So I didn't lose any money nice So Got

my Vita Which I like but I don't play it as often

as I probably should But now all the games that

I wanted the Wii U for in the first place, they're

starting to come out and they drop the price

$50. And I'm like, hey, I'm maybe after the PlayStation

four. Once I pick that up, maybe I'll think again

about picking up a Wii U. And she's like, no,

not happening. You didn't. You had one already

and you got rid of it. And I'm like, yeah, but

the games weren't there. She goes, so you're

going to have a PlayStation four like you're

going to be playing that. And I'm like, that's

true. Yeah, you're right. Like and that's kind

of the way it goes. It's like, you know, I It's,

you know, like the conversation we had at the

beginning, like the TV. I'm like looking at a

plasma TV and she's like, well, a year and a

half ago, I suggested we get a plasma TV. Why

didn't we get one then? And I'm like, well, because

at the time, you know, LEDs cost less to run

and, you know, they draw less electricity and

this, that, and the other thing. And I was like,

but I started looking into plasmas and the power

consumption on some of the newer models is almost

in line with The LED TVs, it's like an eight

dollar difference a year between. Oh, wow. Like

my LED TV geeking out here. Right. Because I'm

a tech guy. The LED TV, if you run it for five

hours a day, it costs about twelve dollars a

year to run it. Wow. And the plasma one, like

at the time, plasmas were like forty dollars

a year. Not that big of a deal. Right. But I

was like twelve dollars and forty dollars. That

can add up. But now. the plasma tv that i was

looking at is 20 a year to run so i've never

actually had one i've always just stayed away

from because power consumption i want to be eco

-friendly yay but um so you know i kind of had

to jump through that hoop you know kind of had

to get her to understand like why i was even

looking at him and i told her you know i'm like

ocd with like picture quality and don't get me

wrong i have a flagship samsung that's a year

and a half old and it's brilliant picture And

most of the time I can't get her to see the imperfections

that I'm seeing I'm sure if I brought you over

here and pointed out specific things to you You

would notice them and you wouldn't be able to

unsee them. Well, I think that it would also

depend on what you're watching it does and My

wife when we pick out TVs that's like those kind

of like the general electronics like blu -rays

or TVs we always look at features or how it looks

and Getting into the TV thing we we had one of

our TVs start going because a warranty issue

like it was in its you know extended warranty

and We paid $100 to upgrade the size and ended

up with another We got a Samsung 50 like 51 inch

Plasma and It's We only got the Samsung even

though they were pushing the LG's like crazy

Because you know that was their you know model

of choice because that's the one they get the

biggest payoff for But every LG we were looking

at and that size class looked like crap compared

to the Samsung Like there were certain digitizations

and certain color pigment differences that you

could just tell that the TV wasn't as good as

the Samsung that we ended up picking out Or I

can hook up an mp3 player and play through it

like a stereo system, but We just got a Sony

one and It has all these other like media sources

that you can stream to Plus a USB port that I

can Plug in an external hard drive and play media

files Now granted they're like specific media

files, but it's still you know it's We went for

features, and so I mean that's that's one of

the few areas that she gets geeky with just because

she wants to make sure she gets something that

it's not gonna, you know, out - outlive its usefulness.

Oh yeah, I mean those are like the - I - that's

like the icing - if I can't like explain to her

like through my - the way that I am about something,

if I can't get - her cat's chasing its tail,

I'm sorry. He's like, damn thing! Anyways, the

- That's that's one of the things that I do is

like if I can't get her if I can't get her on

like there it is there it is Sorry first went

home He's watching my cat over the webcam behind

me jumping around in circles chasing her cat

or her tail Anyways, stop trying to steal the

show She does that my video show so Yeah, I go

after my wife with the features. I'm like, yeah,

we can stream You know, I can hook the computer

to this and we can like stream the shows over

this blah blah blah blah I do that like if I

can't get her on something I can usually get

her hooked on something else, but it's like I'm

I Can't really get her to I got her to bite at

thinking about getting a new TV. So I've started

diving down my OCD rabbit hole, crawling all

over forums, looking at reviews and all this.

I've narrowed it down to two TVs. And for anyone

that cares, it's a Panasonic ST60 or a Samsung

F550 or F5500. They're both 60 inch TVs. I spent

six hours yesterday crawling the Internet. you

know just my tunnel vision was on I was just

like I but that's what I do when I start researchers

researching stuff I go in I jump in both feet

that's probably more annoying to my wife than

wanting to buy stuff all the time but yeah video

games she doesn't have a problem with me going

out and buying because she's my wife is a gamer

and I think that helps out a lot yeah I would

definitely say so Like, my friend Danner, his

wife doesn't game. My friend Jason, his wife

doesn't game. So it's kinda... it's... I'm presuming

your wife doesn't game. She's not really a heavy

gamer. Like, she'll play like... she likes things

like Donkey Kong, Mario... She seems like she

might like a game of Junk and Scene It. But that's

just me. She likes Scene It except for when I

beat her. Okay, well... Like so we don't play

those games too much Well Danner's wife like

seen it as well, but she doesn't play any like

the other game games so it's kind of hard for

me to like get Some of my friends on board with

you know, oh man, there's this great Multiplayer

game. We all need to get a copy of it They they

can't go out and just get a copy of it because

they have to like run it by the wife or you know

Something like that, but Ellie My wife, she is

a gamer too. She likes her games. She buys games

all the time. I buy way more games than she does.

I buy games that don't even play. I mean, I've

got games in my entertainment center that are

still in the shrink wrap. But it helps a lot

that she is a gamer. Because like I said, I spent

almost eight grand in the time that I've been

with her on games. And she never once like pulled

the whole thing like oh you can't get that unless

you get me like an engagement ring or anything

like that No, I was I just I don't know. I just

asked her to marry me because Well, obviously

because I love her but what you know I did it

wasn't like you need to ask it what it wasn't

like we ran into one of the situations where

it's like before you drop $600 on a new computer

or something you need to you know propose to

me No, we've never had anything like that. There's

never been a it's there's never been like an

ultimatum. Sometimes there's like compromises,

stuff like that. But what's made it a lot easier

with everything related to this is since we've

before we got married, we didn't have a joint

account for paying bills. And now that and after

we got married, what we did is we got a joint

account. To pay bills. and we figured out the

total amount of our bills and we split it right

down the middle. And we both have direct deposit

from work and we have our half of the amount

deposited directly into the joint account. And

then we have two separate accounts. She's got

her own spending money and I've got my own spending

money. So we can pretty much, all our bills are

being taken care of by the joint account. So

really our money is ours To spend any way we

want but you know, I still asked my wife I'm

like, it's it okay if I go and buy you know this

I don't ask to buy games or movies or anything

like that, but like my She's asked me or I told

her I said anytime I spend any more than a hundred

dollars. I'm gonna run and buy you first Makes

sense not not so much that I can't can't get

it. It's just like can I get her to? not roll

her eyes when I make a suggestion. Another funny

little thing that I've learned over the last

couple years, I love going to Best Buy and going

window shopping. Like looking at new TVs, just

browsing the game section, looking at computers,

hard drives, all that stuff. It's much easier

to do that after I've either taken my wife to

dinner or lunch. It's kind of like it's kind

of like, you know, you don't want to go you don't

want to go grocery shopping when you're hungry

Makes sense. I don't want to go geek shopping

when my wife is hungry Because you just it's

like She gets angry not like not like angry angry

like she doesn't get like mad at me or anything

It's just like she's very uninterested in anything

that's happening It gets a little agitated having

to just look at stuff that doesn't mean anything.

Yeah, exactly. Especially when we're there I

used to go like three times a week just to look

at stuff because I like looking at that stuff.

Has being a geek ever caused any problems? I

would say so. Only for the fact that over the

years I've spent a lot of money I didn't need

to spend. That could have been better spent on

something else Just based on like Now when it

comes to gaming I pretty much buy stuff that

I know I'm going to play the crap out of Right

like I'm still playing Arkham City but in the

bonus levels just so that I can Set random modifiers

to and skins so that I can found people in there,

but and you are like or like Unreal Tournament

3. I get set on these specific games and I keep

playing them. So those, she doesn't mind as much

when I buy those, unless there's other big things

that come up that I'm gonna be spending money

on. Now, there were times that she'd find out

I'd go buy DVDs after work. I'd come home with

them then she'd say why the hell do you spend

so much on you know DVDs that you're only gonna

watch like as soon as you get it and then it's

gonna sit in the box for six eight months and

I'm like cuz I have to have the disc and You

know I mean, there's no logical explanation for

it. I mean there's certain movies that I'll I'll

get the okay for like Star Trek I know I'll be

able to go out and buy that because she knows

I really like Star Trek and I have all the rest

of DVDs, but You know it's certain things like

that that I'm allowed to do then there's certain

times where you know miraculously have a new

toy or a new comic or something random that shows

up and she's like so when'd you buy that or You

know because she works at the bank she can you

know and pays our bills She sees when I spend

money So if I don't want to incur wrath Need

to clear it with her first and be able to get

her to understand why I need it As long as it's

all clear the to begin with I'm fine But usually

when I just decide I'm gonna buy it and then

a random charge shows up There's not good times

for me. You can't hide anywhere. No, I can't

because she sees all I Don't think I've ever

had I don't think it's ever been an issue My

my my My geek hobby my geek my geek lifestyles

ever been an issue with my with my wife I Think

I Think she's just got I mean I it's not I mean

I was like this before she met me I mean this

how I was when she met me I like having I love

having nice things I there's this poster of my

grandma's basement It's actually just a picture.

It just it says it says my tastes are simple.

I like I like expensive things. And that is me.

I like expensive things, but I also think that

keeps me from buying excessive amounts of things.

OK, it's a way of limiting myself from buying

a bunch of trinkets and stuff like that. Like

and then that extends to everything like I like

expensive electronics I like Apple products for

crying out loud like it doesn't get much more

expensive than an Apple product I like I like

expensive Liquor I like expensive beer all that

stuff and just you know that one one that that

stuff keeps me from becoming an alcoholic because

Alcoholism runs in my family, but I like the

expensive stuff which means I can't buy it So

Don't have to worry about that being an issue.

There's moments where she's been concerned about

things, and it's more me just having a reminder

that we're okay. It's not going to affect anything.

I just have to keep reminding her our bills are

paid. Everything's good. Now, I guess to close

this out, And if we didn't answer this question

well enough, you can let us know. But if there's

one piece of advice you could give him, a fellow

that's gonna become a married geek, what would

it be? I would say probably to... Make sure she

knows how passionate you are about the specific

geek subjects or things that interest you that

make you a geek. That way she can kind of understand

where you're coming from and be a little bit

sympathetic towards your cause of spending money

on certain things. And the other part of that

I would say is clear it with your wife first.

Alright, yeah, I I would agree with that just

make sure yeah, I mean I'm assuming Your wife

knows she's a geek already Your wife knows that

you're a geek already and that it's not like

you're gonna get married and also no here come

the comic books and here comes the you know all

the stuff that I'm collecting that you had no

idea about yeah, just You know make make sure

there's an understanding there like I said, I've

got the understanding with my wife, you know,

it's there's a limit like I said anything like

$100 I can just go ahead and buy just I guess

it just comes down to being a married geek can

add a financial stress an unnecessary financial

stress to the relationship so I guess just be

just as long as everything else is taken care

of financially I'm fairly certain your wife should

be okay with almost anything. I mean, if you're

taking care of what needs to be... if you're

being responsible, I guess. Yes, if you're being

responsible. Yeah, and I... I mean, I wasn't

always responsible, but I've been... my girlfriend,

my wife, met me when I turned the responsibility

leaf over. Cause I used to be, you know, I used

to just go, Oh, I want that. Boom. Got it. Oh,

I want that. Boom. I got it. You know, um, and

then it became, it kind of became, well, now,

now we've got to work within limits. So it's

kind of like, um, being a gamer, I will wait

after a certain period of time. And this is that

window. Usually there's, there's, there's a window.

It's like October, September, October, November.

There's a window where I will make a list of

games that I want that I won't buy. And I will

wait for Black Friday. And my luck the last few

years, those games that I've wanted have been

$20, $30 rather than the normal 60 bucks. So

it's kind of like, I mean, even games that like

come out in like November 1st, I mean, sometimes

those are $20, $30 on Black Friday. And it's

like, so, and I make a list of, there's like,

there's two lists that I make. There's games

that I have to play that I need to buy on day

one. And then that make another list so there

are games that I want, but I'll wait and see

what happens on Black Friday. And usually what

happens is I end up buying them on Black Friday

and then they end up sitting underneath my TV

and shrink wrap. So I never needed them in the

first place, but it's a good thing that I didn't

spend $60 on them. Also, saving for a geek thing

will go a long way rather than Just the lump,

you know the the lump sum up front, you know

what I'm saying? Yeah Like for example, I've

been saving since March for my PlayStation 4

so Anything like like Saving for my PlayStation

4 is a lot better than dropping the me going

out on November 15th and dropping five hundred

and eighty dollars That we didn't have Yeah,

but now I've got and I say 580 because I've got

games picked out too But now I've got that $580

saved So it's not gonna kill us, you know It's

not it's not gonna cause any financial stress

on November 15th when the stuff comes out because

you've saved for it It's not like a big out -of

-pocket pocket expense So yeah, just I guess

plan ahead more when you're a geek Yeah, definitely.

Let's see... Grand Con? Yes, we should talk Grand

Con. I guess I'll let you go first since you

set this whole thing up originally. Well, okay,

let's be completely honest here. This whole interaction.

yeah well this whole interaction um i'm not exactly

entirely sure what we've gotten ourselves into

um i know a guy uh named mark who i met at the

geek garage sale and my friend puts on um and

he's starting a um a convention in grand a geek

convention in grand rapids michigan um called

grand con and it is it is going um september

20th the 21st and the 22nd um you can head over

to grand dash con dot com to find out more information

about it um i my wife and i are going to be there

probably all three days i know you're only going

to be there that saturday yes so i don't i don't

uh i'm not i mean we're gonna bring we're gonna

have uh flyers for the website um I'm not entirely

sure I I haven't had any interaction with them

outside of that. It's all been I've had a lot

of interaction in between there. I Know that

there's going to be quite a few Well -known gaming

community people that have developed board games

and I Know that it's real heavy in that There's

going to be people from I believe there's one

of the producers from Geek and Sundry or something

is going to be there. I believe is what I've

heard. OK. And one of my interactions with them,

there's also going to be quite a few comic book

writers that are there and authors of fantasy

books like the Creator of the Forgotten Realms

fantasy world fiction Various other media publishers

and stuff so I mean it's it's gonna be kind of

a mishmash of media artists game publishers authors

From all different areas like some of them from

Michigan some of them not But this is the first

year of the show to Yes, the very first year

of the show. So I'm sure there's going to be

a lot of stuff that's transpiring this year that

will follow with new things and different things

next year. Like maybe what we're able to do next

year, because I think that's one of the problems

that I'm having is I've never been the only thing

the only thing close to a convention that I've

ever been to, and it doesn't really count as

a convention, is the International Auto Show.

Which is obviously a completely different experience,

right? Yeah. I'm interested to see I almost wish

that Like I'm glad that we're going. I almost

wish that we were just like, you know for our

help I almost wish that we were just I think

we should I sometimes I think that we should

just go with our shirts and Like hang out and

have a good time and just see what it is cuz

I don't even know what to do, you know, like

That's one of my fears It's just not knowing

what to do That's that's one of my things to

being perfectly honest I Have only been to two

conventions in my entire life as geek cast radio

right you went as no a fan the first one I went

was a Star Trek convention in like 94 and Like

the Holiday Inn Gateway Center out in Grand Blank,

Michigan I met John Delancey there, which I also

got to talk to him again for GeekCast Radio.

Did he remember you? Well, of course not. But

I brought up that little tidbit and he's like,

yeah, I remember you. Ha ha or something like

that. And like I was like, oh, I think it turned

awkward in the conversation. So I was like added.

So there there's also that. And I went to the

Transformers TFCon. in Mississauga, Ontario,

Canada last year. And I went representing myself,

like, and then somewhat Geekcast Radio because

I ended up getting on a conference call with

TFG and Mike at one point, standing in line for

an autograph from a voice actor. And I ended

up meeting a lot of people involved with the

Transformers community that I've talked to. Online

some guys back when I used to do Predacon Empire

my transformer site that's now defunct I ended

up meeting some guys from various other sites

that were In the same kind of realm is what my

site was so people that ran those and Some guys

are involved in our Beast Wars dark glass and

video but uh No, I mean I've those are really

my only experiences with them and with TF con

I mean with the the Star Trek one. They were

all tables around in a room mm -hmm kind of line

and they were for different groups selling different

things or different organizations and that kind

of stuff involved with Star Trek and then For

the TF con They had little tables and booze throughout

the convention center and They had this one specific

room that every hour there was a different show

Different speakers that were guest speakers there.

So I mean in in that essence in in grand kind

I've been trying to figure it out and I think

they're still trying to sort it out to being

that it's the first year That they have Certain

like events and seminars going on throughout

the thing as well as like a I think a movie screening

of I want to say, Masters of the Universe or

something like that. And I know that they're

going to have, you know, various board game competitions.

They're going to have, I believe, a LARPing thing

going on. I guess I guess it should be a board

game. Yeah, like you said, this is a board game

heavy convention. Yeah, and in comic base, but

I mean, it's it's going to be heavy in those.

So I mean, I'm not exactly sure what our exact

role will be there. I mean, I think if we find

some interesting people, we'll try and get little

tidbits with them and maybe record something

on the spot. You know, I have an idea that we

could talk about when we wrap this up. OK, but

but yeah, we will myself and the off the cuff

crew. You and yeah, but yeah myself and Art Danner

x51 the machine man and Joe Reed will be there

Yes, so we'll all be there representing geek

cast radio and off the cuff and altered geek

so if you're Native to Michigan and you're going

to be in the Grand Rapids area it is on September

20th through the 22nd in Grand Rapids Now, a

little note from us. Steve and I have been toying

with the idea of using Google Hangouts during

our record for Altra Geek Unlimited. I haven't

gone too far down that rabbit hole with the research,

but I believe it would allow you guys to interact

with us via chat. We can invite you to the Google

Hangout. You'd have to follow GeekCast has a

presence on Google +, do they not? If not, we

should get one. We do have one on Google+. Because

of Yahoo, or because of YouTube. Yeah, I believe

so. OK, so what we should do, maybe in the show

Google Plus to follow. the Google Plus account

so they can follow it if they want. Yeah. And

basically what it would allow us to do is, you

know, we'd be able to live stream it. You'd be

able to see us acting like fools. And you could

actually interact with what we're talking about

via chat. We can answer your questions like on

the fly. If that's something you guys would be

interested in, let us know, because we like we're

I like to try new things. I know Steve does,

too. We're just. Trying to find ways to interact

with you guys more because we're enjoying the

feedback So That's our that's the next thing

we're gonna look at is using Google Hangouts

and there will still be the show The nice thing

my understanding of Google the the Google Hangouts

is Immediately when the show is done It will

be exported to YouTube So and that would go on

the YouTube channel so you could watch us talk

about what we've talked about, or you can still

download the show via iTunes or geekcastradio

.com. So it won't interfere with the regular

AlterGeek stuff. No, but it would be a fun companion

thing to do, you know, kind of gauge interest

and see how that goes. Right. Now, let's see.

We've got Three questions. Let's just throw them

all out there. Okay. Three questions. Who did

they come from, Steve? Did I delete that stuff?

I deleted that. They came from PlatoLament. Okay.

Number one is, what are your all -time favorite

movies? Let's limit it to, what do you want to

do, three, five, one? Let's listen to... Limit

it to three three. Okay, you're your three top

three all -time favorite movies And then we've

got what got you into geek culture It was like

an aunt and uncle did you trip and fall into

a toy store You know And the last one is if you

could do one thing if you could only do one thing

comics movies, video games, etc. What would you

pick and why? And I think anyone that has listened

to Off the Cuff will know which one I pick. So

Steve, where can they submit their answers? Well,

you can send them to feedback at GeekCastRadio

.com. You can send them to the voicemail line,

which we can also incorporate, which is 502 -526

-5821. You can go to the Geetcast Radio Facebook

page, which is Geetcast Radio Network. You can

submit them to Twitter at Geetcast Radio. You

can go on the Geetcast Radio forums, which is

forums .geetcastradio .com and we'll have the

episode post there as well. Or you can submit

them on the main web page under this post category

episode post. I guess it sounded all convoluted,

but... It was, yeah. You can also, you can also

hit us on Twitter using the hashtag AlterGeek.

You can find me on there at BoothNinja81, Steve.

I am at SCP -21. Alright. Yeah. I think that

about sums it up, and as always, get altered,

get geeky with the AlterGeeks.