Spotlight – An Interview with Peter Westwood

Hey, this is Steve Bloom, and you are listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. You are tuned

in to Steve Megatron on Altered Geek. Hello,

and welcome to Altered Geek. I'm your host, Steve

Megatron Phillips. Today, I'd like to welcome

to the program Peter Westwood, creative producer,

producer of the YouTube show called Poppin' Off,

producer of... a Microsoft Mixer series called

Stream Collider, TEDx speaker, and pop culture

fan. Welcome, Peter. Dude, welcome to me. Dude,

thank you so much for having me. I appreciate

it, Steve. Yeah, no problem. Thank you for joining

me. So I've noticed that you're very creativity

-driven between all the various things that you

have and very... uh, positivity, uh, driven.

So, so what drives you in your, your creativity?

Oh, dude, I think, you know, ultimately what,

what drives me right now, my creativity is, is

the idea that I relate a lot of things back to

Robin Williams. The idea that something that

I'm working on can alter one person, I guess,

alters like the fun word to use tonight, um,

to alter the one person's kind of view towards,

uh, towards life in general. Everything that

I try to create is, I say edutainment. I want

you to learn something new, feel something new

that you didn't get 30 to 60 minutes beforehand.

Yeah, I totally get that. It seems like there's

a lot of things that are just basic commentary,

but a lot less covering things that you're kind

of learning at the same time. yeah i mean it's

easy you know content in general i mean you can

look at stuff look at vine you can just create

stuff just to get stuff out there and people

just like it um but sometimes if you know thought

provoking or that kind of uh creating something

that you feel will leave a legacy or leave people

wanting wanting more of um i feel like you know

that's a that's that's a big picture that everyone

can kind of go after yeah i i when when i was

Kind of checking out your profile, I'd watched

the TEDx that you'd spoken of and thought that

it was very powerful. And then I even thought

it was funny that you quoted Mark and Mindy,

which I grew up watching reruns of that with

my family, so it wasn't over my head. But it

was very interesting to see you up there delivering

that about just... being you I appreciate it

man I mean I think authenticity is something

that I think we should stress a lot of you know

social media in general a lot of people you can

get behind a certain character or shtick and

I feel like expressing some kind of authentic

self and being able to show like all the scars

and bruises that make you who you are, I feel

like that kind of, we're in a day and age and

a climate where that's kind of, that's being

embraced a lot more, if that makes sense. Oh,

yeah. Yeah. And authenticity, if you're not authentic,

people can smell it a mile away. Preach. Preach.

Amen. And that's and that's that's part of what's

what's getting a lot of people in trouble now

is they're they're playing the, you know, oh,

well, I did that as a joke or I, you know, it's

like, you know, yes, you do have the power to

grow and change, but you still do things like

a certain way. Like it's it's like like I've

I've kind of taken this personal mission to not

be as negative online or to. limit what I'm saying

to something that's constructive feedback instead

of just off the handle, crazy fandom speaker.

And when you own it. Yeah. And that's, and that's

the important thing is a lot of people just don't

do that. No, absolutely. I mean, and you have,

I mean, what you're, you said before, just talking

before this, you're a father. Yes. So, so again,

like this, your legacy, this is something that

you, everything that you create, everything that

you want to do, you are, you, you have firsthand

an audience that you were looking to leave something

behind for. Yeah. And they, they soak everything

up too. Absolutely. We're getting deep right

now. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, it's, it's just

the, the internet can kind of make or break you.

And that's, that's kind of the thing that. that

I was getting some of out of your, your Ted talk

and just things that I've kind of just rationalized

over the last year or two is that, um, even like

10 years ago, we were kind of making predictions

that a lot of things that people were doing online,

like you kind of have to watch what you're doing

cause it's going to come back and bite you later.

And now it is. So it's like, it's, it's like

you should have just been authentic from the

start. No, you're absolutely – and believe me,

I've gotten to the point where I've had to go

through my social media and be like, I know I've

said some things that are off color, off comment.

Man, I need to go and scrub. Like I know I need

to take this on the chin. But I think pop culture

in general as well is like it's reflecting that.

You see these – everything that's going on right

now in entertainment, it's starting to reflect

this kind of climate change and being authentic

to yourself, which is kind of interesting, which

is – Which is why right now in a creative space

and working in entertainment and working within

pop culture, it is such a fun time to be a creative

because you have a lot of real stuff to use for

your art. Oh, yeah. And it's constantly flooding

in. Absolutely. You see it day in and day out

with what's coming out on right now. And again,

you hate to see TMZ at times. I don't want to

see CBS talking about the Amazon, Jeff Bezos'

divorce. I don't want to. I want to see them

covering real news stuff. I don't. But it's crazy.

You see this stuff being reflected all the time

in this mainstream media. And yeah, man, sorry.

I got on a rant. I got on a rant on that one.

Oh, no, no, it's not it. Uh, we, we like rants

on this show, but, uh, um, no, like I, I, there's,

there's a lot of stuff in the news. Like everything's

breaking news, no matter where it's at, like

even in geek culture. And that's, uh, kind of

sad that, you know, Oh, rumor mill, you know,

breaking news, blah, blah, blah. One line of

text that's important out of the whole thing.

And it's not even relevant. So like, it's, I

don't know. There's. And I guess that's the reason

why, like, even with doing podcasts or doing,

like, websites in general, like, I refuse to

do, like, clickbait type stuff of, you know,

one article and, you know, just to try and get

funds. Right. You're like some substance to your

stuff. See, I appreciate you. Yeah. And that's,

that's the thing too. Like there's, there's a

lot of lack of substance and a lot of mouths,

uh, speaking online. And that's, I think that's

part of the, uh, the, the whole thing that people

aren't being totally real. And that's, and I'm

glad, like, I'm, I, I appreciate you, you watching

it. And that's, that's really what I want to

do with, within that TEDx is, you know, I had

the opportunity to speak and, you know, using

some. real life moments that I feel like reflect

my work and kind of stuck with me in that you

know being able to kind of highlight and talk

about what's kind of shaped me that's something

and I'm I'm glad that you got the Mork and Mindy

reference you know to the action the the crowd

of kids I don't know if they got it I had one

of the kids I even had to explain beforehand

who Robin Williams was which believe me and let

me just tell you this my heart sank so deep when

I had to explain to them who Robin Williams was.

He was a genius. Thank you. Thank you. My only

thing was like, okay, you know the genie in Aladdin?

Oh yeah, like Will Smith? I said, no, no, not

that genie. The original genie. The original

genie in Aladdin. It's like Robin Williams. Dude,

you realize how disconnected I felt from a younger

generation hearing that? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I can

definitely relate there. Especially when now

they're redoing all of the movies we grew up

on as live -action movies and changing all of

the cast and everything. So, like, they'll sound

somewhat similar, but it's the same dialogue.

Exactly. I mean, listen, like, I don't mind it,

though. I don't mind them redoing these movies.

I actually don't. Mainly because we had it for

us growing up, those cartoons, everything. But,

I mean, dude, again, I talk to my niece and my

nephews. You talk to your kids. They are not

entertained by the cartoons that we like. They

are not entertained by the original Aladdin.

So you know what? If this is our way of bonding

by having to spoon feed a brilliant movie and

something up to date to you, then fine. Let's

make this happen. That's the way I see it. It's,

like, it's fixing that kind of gap between us

and the new generation when it comes to these,

like, movies that we felt kind of shaped our

view. You know? Mm -hmm. Yeah. So, like, yeah,

I don't have a problem with them remaking them

because ultimately, like, if nothing else, it

would make them search out the original. Yes.

And then they could see which one is superior.

And they both would be superior in their own

way. There's not a wrong way to be a geek. But

we all know that the original Aladdin was so

much better. Yeah. Well, it's when they started

making sequels it started going downhill. Amen.

The third one wasn't too bad, but we had Robin

Williams back. Again, because Robin Williams

is a genius. Yes. But a lot of his films and

television had a lot of social commentary built

into them just because of that's who he was.

Absolutely. And I still love his movies. Again,

anytime they are on, you can be on one of those

TBS, TNT, where I've got to deal with the commercials

in between it. I don't care if the movie goes

from an hour and a half to three and a half hours

then. I will still watch it. go through and i

will watch the in its entirety rob williams not

done nice so so what did it feel like to go up

there on stage while you're at doing the tedx

and and present so um i mean when i was working

in new york city like i hadn't i performed before

i'd done some stuff on stage before um you know

kind of talking with comedy or i did some some

lectures um at various schools But for the first

time doing this TEDx and kind of opening up about,

you know, I don't know how dark we can get in

this sense, apologies. But actually for the first

time opening up about situations that happened

in my life in front of a crowd, that was, yeah,

I'm a sweater and I was sweating before I stepped

on stage. That was kind of, that was hard at

first. But once I actually started talking, I

started seeing that, you know, opening up about

my life and, you know, tragedy that's kind of

struck my life. Once I started opening up about

that and seeing the kids then become engaged,

um, I realized I was some people were listening

and that made it a lot easier. Yeah. It's, it's

definitely a lot easier. We can tell people are

paying attention. I, I can't even imagine like

standing in front of a large, uh, group, uh,

like that in, in speaking. Like I've. I've always

operated from the comfort of my own desktop.

I did recently go to a... They had a themed Star

Trek night at a local science museum to me, and

they asked me to host the trivia night, which

turned out was really the only thing going on

for an entire hour. And so I didn't realize this.

And originally I was supposed to have a co -host

and I'd never done like a public appearance speaking

thing before. And so it really threw me. But

I was like, you know, if I just am who I am when

I record, it should go fine. It's just, you know,

the high school jitters coming back. And so I.

Was informed two minutes to starting that the

co -host was no longer going to be there. And

it was just going to be me. And so I'm like,

well, got to rip the bandaid off. I'm here. So

I just started doing that and then started out

with about 15 people. By the end of that hour,

there were probably 80 people standing around

listening to me talk, which was. Which was interesting.

And once I started throwing jokes and getting

kind of my personality in there, it did start

flowing a lot easier. But again, it was the engagement

that kind of brought it up. So I definitely resonate

with that. How frustrating was it, because you

were doing trivia, how frustrating was it knowing

the right answers and how many people getting

them wrong? Well, being that I didn't build the

PowerPoint, and they did, I did go through and

tweak it because it wasn't... Like I'm a perfectionist

when it comes to certain graphical issues and

placements. And so I would notice little misalignments.

And so I went through and I tweaked it before

I resend it to them. And then I threw in a couple

of things that I thought should have been in

there that weren't. Some of the people, like

there were people in their late 70s that were

like, I grew up on sci -fi back when they had

them on string in front of the camera. And they

were just like, they could tell me the current

star date. Or some of them could speak Klingon

or tell me who was in a certain episode. And

I'm like, yep, you guys are way beyond what I

know there. But as far as the trivia, there were

certain... uh, questions that pretty much all

of them could get wrong. Uh, like what the pets

names were. Like if it wasn't data's cat spot,

like everybody just had no clue. Like it was,

it was just the most interesting and the most,

um, uh, frustrating thing for some of those people

because like a lot of the questions were like

trick questions, uh, in certain scenarios or,

or there were certain scenarios where there really

was only one right answer, but it made it kind

of out to be like a difficult question. even

though it wasn't. And so it was just funny watching

people's reactions to it. You had, you had a

night on your hand. Yeah. And then, and then

thankfully I had, um, uh, because I'm a part

of the, the Starfleet organization, uh, fan club,

uh, or fan organization. They, their president

of the organization was actually there kind of

yelling at the people. dressed in full Starfleet

garb and like, Hey, come on, you should know

this one. You know, it was just, it was, it was

very entertaining. So like if, if I would have

been able to, like, I did record some of the,

the, the stuff via audio, but if I would have

thought about it and done it like a live stream

video, it would have been quite hilarious to

watch some of the people. Especially the ones

that had been heavily intoxicated. Of course.

Yelling out the answers so everybody would get

them. Of course. Of course. I mean, now I'm asking

you a question. Have you ever been to one of

the major cons, like New York Comic Con or San

Diego Comic Con? No, I have not. It's always

been something that I've been interested in,

but again, it's a monetary thing. I've been to

a couple different size ones. I've been to Transformers

conventions, one in Canada, one in Chicago. I've

been to a couple of Grand Rapids Comic Cons in

Michigan and might be possibly going to C2E2.

Got to get you and the family all dressed up

to a Comic Con. That's it. That's the only way

to go. Yeah. I'm waiting for my Starfleet uniform.

I don't even know your children's ages, but get

it for the little ones. Everybody dressed up.

Full Starfleet. Let's go. Yeah. So what is one

of your favorite pop culture properties that

you enjoy, whether it's TV, film, or games, or

just whatever in that realm? I mean, I guess

it's between... I'm a huge Marvel fan. I love

the Marvel franchise. I love the movies in that

sense. TV as well. And then, yeah, man, I've

been getting into esports a lot. I've had a couple

friends that own some esports teams. They're

from not the Overwatch League yet. They're not

in it. But they had a few leagues for PUBG Mobile

and everything. So it ranges. I work in TV, so

I'm always trying to stay. in the know within

pop culture and, and what I can kind of, what

society is kind of going with and getting kind

of flowing with. So I'm always trying to stay

in the know with that. Um, but yeah, I want to

say movies and TV strongly, but I can't put down

a controller. Yeah. I have that problem in my

downtime when I'm, when I'm not recording podcasts

and I'm at my, my PC, I'm, I have an Xbox 360

controller in a game going and I will play for

hours. That's it, man. My downtime, if that's

the case, I will have Rick and Morty playing

on repeat while simultaneously murking people

on Overwatch. That is my ideal evening, to be

honest. Nice. Yeah, I typically have, because

I have a dual monitor set up, I have one monitor

playing. uh like hulu uh just random episodes

of stuff and then i i have my my other screen

playing the games perfect see that's that is

it like that's that's very it's it's kind of

it's it's the best way i don't know if you eat

sushi but like in between in between sushi rolls

you you take you have a little bit of ginger

to cleanse your palate And, like, to me, that

is palate cleansing. Like, after a day, you are

done. You're offset. You're done doing whatever

it is, your job that may be. To me, it's like

gaming is that outlet. Oh, yeah, definitely.

You know, some people, they like to go to the

driving range, and they're like, no, man, throw

me a controller. Throw me online. Let me go ahead

and talk some smack to some people while playing.

I don't care if you're 10. I don't care if you're

50. I will put you down. so that is that is it

um but that is like an outlet oh yeah definitely

that's that's pretty much how i i kind of cool

off for the day like i i just i'll watch something

just kind of brainlessly it's sound in the the

background and every now and again scan over

but like pretty much i can just play on autopilot

so what are some of your What are some of your

favorite, since we're talking games, what are

some of your favorite games that you've played

over the last couple of years? For instance,

myself, I just recently got Steam, so I downloaded

Arkham City and Arkham Knight again. Well, I

never played Arkham Knight because I didn't have

a next -gen console, but those are what I've

been playing lately, and I'm getting ready to

play Battlefield V. But what are some games that

you've been kind of addicted to? It's kind of

running the gamut a little bit. I have Madden

because that connects me to a lot of my friends

originally from Pennsylvania. So we still play

Madden. I still have a Madden league going for

the last, oh, man, 10 years, 12 years online.

So we've been getting online, having a league.

So for the last 12 years, it's been Madden. Then,

even from that, within the last few years, Destiny,

I've been really getting into Destiny. It's the

storyline. The storyline to go along with everything,

all the updates, I have been lost into space

with that. And then as Overwatch has come through,

Overwatch, to me, it's that competitive nature.

And it's just straight up, it's clean and competitive.

And so you just see you see the league itself

blowing up. I mean, dude, teams are going for

now in the second season, 40 to 50 million dollars

a team. Just that alone is it's to see a game

that I can just play online in between, like,

you know, days on weekends with friends. And

to know that, like, this game also translates

to a whole entire professional series and league.

It's mind blowing. But I would say that between

Destiny and Overwatch and then as Madden's grown,

being able to still play that and connect with

friends from home, those have been my go -tos.

Nice, nice. Yeah, I pretty much do very similar

with the Battlefield series because I play the

game with my two brothers and my dad and a whole

clan of people. It's a way that everybody gets

to talk smack and at the same time play the game

together. Oh. And again, don't get me wrong.

I still dive into Battlefield, Fallout. Oh, God.

If we're going through games that I've lost my

life in, I would say Skyrim. I'm a huge Game

of Thrones fan, and so Skyrim, I will play Game

of Thrones on repeat. both of those going together,

I lose myself in those worlds. But I've had to

step away from those games because I would be

like, it has been 14 hours. Why am I still just

roaming the woods right now? What is going on?

So, yeah, sorry. Oh, no, I've done that in games

too. There were points that I would sit there

from like 7 o 'clock at night until like 3 in

the morning. And then realize that I've been

sitting there that entire time and, you know,

got up to get a drink or something. And that's

about it. Like it would just, it was mind boggling.

I'm like, what have you done? You've increased

your bank like 10 bucks and like you got some

new armor. Yeah, pretty much. I haven't really

gone too far, but can you imagine? I've explored

all of this stuff already. It's ridiculous. Yeah.

That's your point A to point B. Don't give me

an open world right now. Come on. Yeah, I kind

of stay away from open world for the most part.

I mean, I've played like currently it's Star

Trek Online is pretty much my only quote unquote

open world that I do. But that's even that's

kind of few and far between. I have to limit

myself. Otherwise, I'll sit there and play for

like hours. Well, I mean, dude, they had. Speaking

of some gamer stuff, too, that I just read about,

what was it? Star Wars. They were looking for

Star Wars. They were going to do a whole entire

open world game, and the EA just pulled the plug

and just, I don't know about the swearing part

on this show, and just made a whole bunch of

people angry because everyone was banking on

this Star Wars open world thing, and they just

pulled the plug on it, and now everyone's revolting.

That seems to happen with EA a lot. Yeah. Again,

I'm a Madden fan, but I have my issues with EA,

so I completely agree. EA's done a lot of things

with a lot of games, whether it's Star Wars,

Battlefield, or sports games. They just kind

of insert foot and just shoot themselves in the

foot. It's really bad all the way around. But

Altered Geek would love EA to sponsor things,

so we're not going to ruin that sponsor. No.

Yay. Yes. I would like that, actually. I actually

did, funny enough, get... When Battlefield 1

was coming out, I was in the alpha. Oh, nice.

And then I streamed it because you were allowed

to do that. Right. So, I mean, granted, it had

your username floating across the screen randomly,

but... I played the alpha, then I got in on the

beta, then I did the origin, all access, free

trial, and then I bought the game. That's it.

You were sold. Yeah, I was sold. I was like,

these are great. I can finally snipe people unlike

Battlefield 4. It was great. I didn't get that

luxury with Battlefield 5, but I think that they

rotated from the people that they gave that access

to. the first time around. But, yeah, I would

love to always get some kind of a sponsorship

or early access to games. See, there you go.

I saw that as a perfect spot, but we just cut

an entire commercial, dude. We just cut an entire

little commercial for your first sponsor. Thank

you, EA. EA, it's in the game. Oh, man, I miss

that so much. I don't even think they do that

with that guy anymore. Oh, God. Yeah, it was

only the sports games, because I used to play,

like, NHL, and they would go, like, EA Sports.

It's in the game. Dude, yeah, man. That guy made

his life savings off of all of that. Like, he

made so much money off of doing that and just

getting his voice license. Kudos to him. I know.

That would be awesome. That's almost as, like,

iconic as, like, the Mortal Kombat stuff. Finish

him. Right? God, imagine if it was the same guy.

It would be hilarious if it is. Like, imagine

that. God, what did you do? How did you make

your money? I only said about six words, actually,

in my VO career. Yeah, did, like, the EA Sports

in the game, done, like, the Mortal Kombat, and

then, like, the Unreal Tournament, you know.

Headshot. That's it. That's it. I mean, I mean.

Every generation, the next three generations

can live debt -free all over about 15 words that

I said. Yeah, pretty much. That's it. Those are

always fun words, though, because you can use

them for anything. Yeah, but see, that guy has

a voice. That guy had a voice. See, you can even

do that voice. I sound like a 14 -year -old that

smokes six packs a day. No one's really wanting

to listen. I mean, everyone's listening to my

voice right now. I appreciate it. Thank you so

much for tuning in. Yeah. Sorry. I like my rants.

Oh, no, no, it's fine. My voice has actually

changed quite a bit over the years because we've

been doing this almost 10 years now on Keycast

Radio. Not this particular show, but just in

general. And I think I went from like this or

something when I first started talking. And now

I'm like, this is my regular register. But I

also do a lot of. uh character voice impressions

which my friends love to uh make me do they're

like uh particularly the co -founder of the network

with me uh is like uh dance monkey dance like

he's like i need you to do this voice for this

this promo for this broadcast and and i'm like

because i actually did one of those earlier and

he's like i need it by you know x time and i'm

like okay fine See, but see, that's exciting,

though. Like, that's still exciting. Oh, yeah,

I love it. Like, it's always fun. Like, the old,

I don't know if you're familiar with Beast Wars.

Oh, my God. Transformers. Yeah. Yep. Oh, yes.

Megatron, terrorize. Oh, snap. Okay, damn. Yeah,

so that's one of the ones that I do a lot of

impersonations for. We've actually talked to

the actor and he was like, that was really good.

Dude, that's awesome. And then I used to, like,

Krang from Ninja Turtles. Saki, this is Krang.

Why the devil is my new body? You know, and so,

like, they, you know, I pulled that one on him

on, like, a random episode and he just lost it.

But, no, I mean, like, I like doing the different

voices like that. So, like, whatever your voice

is, like, it's unique to you. So, like, you know,

just be proud of it, what you can do. Oh, dude,

I appreciate that. Dude, your VO, though, is

awesome. Thanks. I mean, the crying was creepy,

but, like, that's awesome. I can do Gollum, too,

from Lord of the Rings. Go on, give me some shmeagol.

Yeah, I have fun doing these voices. It just

gets you into trouble when you're caught doing

them all arguing with each other. Because I've

done that too. Oh, you did the whole Justin Roiland.

You just had the entire conversation with yourself?

Oh, yeah, I've done that. I used to work at a

car lot, and I used to have arguments with myself

in different voices, like, just with how irritated

I was throughout the day. So I'd, like, have

Megatron conversing with, like, Starscream or

convincing, you know, with Gollum, and, you know,

and then I'd randomly walk by a car and then

realize the window's rolled down and there's

a customer staring at me, and I'm like, oh, gotta

go. this bird's gotta fly sorry about that yeah

it's it's it's just wild but uh yeah so i i do

a lot of that stuff uh just for fun that's awesome

that is awesome i'm telling you that's that is

a that is an icebreaker party trick and a half

that i would do every single day i'm a people

watcher man and so like i would be fascinated

by that seeing that in public That's one of the

things I actually did when I was doing that Star

Trek trivia thing. I impersonated, not very well,

but I impersonated James Doohan, the actor that

played Scotty, because there was a question about

the Enterprise. And I go, no bloody A, B, C,

or D. So people just, like, that's when I got,

like, real livened up when I was recording that

or doing that event was because I kind of broke

the ice there and everybody laughed. And I was

like, okay, I think I'm good now. And that's,

like, true to your element, man. Like, that's

something that you're good at. That's something

that's second nature to you. So you should be

doing it. I would be doing that every day. Do

that every day. I used to do that, like, impersonating

people I used to work with, too, which was fun.

especially if they had a deep, gravelly voice

like this. There was a guy that talked just like

that, and I managed to fool the manager on a

phone call. So it was great. But technically,

I'm supposed to be interviewing you. So what

are some projects you have coming up? I noticed

that you had the Microsoft Mixer series of Stream

Collider, and I've kind of seen that in my feed

periodically just from different people that

are attached to it. I didn't even know – I mean,

I knew of Mixer, but I didn't know that they

actually had series coming out for them now.

Yes. So, I mean, every week I do – we have my

show popping off that we do with – pop culture

show through the fntsy network we do that tuesdays

and thursdays um i have you know episode two

of microsoft mixers stream collider um we are

looking to film that in february cannot tell

you what the episode is but we have talked about

one of those games that you're playing and that's

That's my hint. That's included. One of the games

that we've mentioned before. We mentioned a couple

games. But one of those games will be in the

next episode, which is really exciting. John

is a phenomenal host. He's a hilarious dude.

The writers and everything behind that team are

great. And so are the directors. So it's really

exciting about that. What else? Unscripted and

everything, we have some projects. We have a

show right now on Animal Planet called Amanda

to the Rescue with the current other job that

I work at. And so, yeah, man, I'm just, I have

a couple projects right now in the esports realm

that I'm looking to launch in 2019. And then

just the circuit, dude. Just, you know, kind

of running the gamut. The Comic -Cons that are

coming up, as well as, you know, more stuff that

I'm hoping to produce on Mixer. So in that game

realm, in that pop culture realm. So looking

to launch a few more shows out there. awesome

awesome yeah it's i i first i think became aware

of mixer probably six months ago and it didn't

realize that it was actually a nice alternative

to like youtube gaming and twitch as well oh

yeah mixer twitch i mean just these avenues in

general um are really kind of expanding content

which is it's that's why it is such a great time

to be alive and to be a creative Um, there are

so many avenues right now that you can actually

get your content out. Um, and that's it. Like

if you kind of tie it all back in, if you have

that purpose or that mission to create some good

stuff and then be able to create that thought

provoking stuff, there are avenues to take that

out too. Um, and mixer is, you know, this show,

the stream collider show in general is, is combining

art, dude. It's streamers and gamers in like

that are playing, they're making their money

playing video games. You know, we, we never thought.

growing up playing video we never thought that

was a possibility no i mean we always thought

we were the nerd that was sitting in our house

like playing either co -op or solo and like going

oh everybody's telling us oh it's a waste of

time you're just playing video games blah blah

blah and now it's not a waste of time it's actually

a skill set it's an absolute skill set usc has

their own legal legends like college team and

so you know this show in general with mixtures

combining that kind of that streamer with that

again that influencer that person that is somehow

found a niche to be able to create, and then

got to follow it. And it's merging them. Dude,

everyone is a nerd, which is so cool. I know.

You just have to embrace it. So many people are

still like, and it's weird that it still has

that stigma, but it's not, man. If you were like

in Marvel, if you were playing video games, the

nerd community is so accepting. Just own it.

Totally. Yeah, and you actually mentioned about

the esports. Actually, local to me, it's like

the next county over or something. They're actually

going all in for their high school with their

athletic department starting an esports division.

Brilliant. Yeah, I mean, it's crazy because you

never would have thought that something like

that would have taken place. 5, 10, 20 years

ago. But now that's like... One, it's good because

it keeps people out of trouble and kind of keeps

their interest involved with something that they're

passionate about. And then two, it's hand -eye

coordination and just a lot of teamwork. Especially

if you're playing online, you may not even physically

know the person and be exhibiting teamwork. Yeah,

you're absolutely right. And right now, to me,

the way I see it, I see it like gaming in general,

too. It's it's also it's not looking in a negative

way, but it's the immediate winner loss. You

will have it in your face. You know, I grew up

playing sports as well as playing video games.

But, you know, growing up playing sports, you

had the winner and a loser. But it's really it's

not as much anymore. But when it comes to gaming,

no, you have a defined winner. And you have to

find a loser. And it teaches you to really be

accountable for that. And these games that are

coming out now when we're having the professional

leagues, the teamwork that is involved, the communication

that is involved, it is making gamers grow up

and be adult and be a lot older than what they

seem. There's a reason why a 16 -year -old kid

or 17 -year -old kid is still getting paid six

figures playing video games. They are still a

bit older. and marketable than they really are.

But they also have to kind of have that professionalism.

They can't be throwing it out there, like just

treating everybody like garbage. And so they

have to kind of up themselves to, I don't know,

like higher standards, as it were, to be able

to exhibit that. No, you're absolutely right.

And to be honest, again, That will still slip.

You still see professional athletes having diva

moments where they... So that will still slip.

But esports in general, it's still the wild,

wild west, it seems. That's the scary part to

me. Because you have Ninja, who Ninja makes,

what, $500 ,000 a month? Something like that.

I'd never even heard of him until about a month

ago. It's ridiculous. Yeah, but it's still, that's

a lot of money to play video games. Yeah, but

it's, again, it's becoming this brand, this marketing

tool. And when it comes to the Overwatch League,

when the league first started, a friend of mine

is a GM for one of the teams there. And when

the leagues first started and they started throwing

in teams, they were about $20, $30 million a

team. After this season. The first season alone

had them skyrocket to about $35 to $50 million

a team, and they expanded to, I think, four new

teams within the league. It's ridiculous. There

is esports leagues and everything. There is going

to be this big boom, but it's still the Wild

West, so there's still going to be some, how

do I want to put this, some failing along the

way. It's just going to be scary to see how big

some of these fails are going to be. Oh, yeah,

and it's the same thing with the podcasting business.

There's a lot that's still being ironed out,

a little bit more so than the esports at this

point, but it's still the Wild West, and very

few actually fully understand either one of those

mediums. They just see the dollar signs. Oh,

yeah, that's all they look at. But, yeah, it'll

be interesting to see how it evolves over the

next few years. Absolutely. Call of Duty is having

a league that's coming out now. Fortnite is putting

together an actual professional league. Mobile

gaming is growing, which is kind of crazy in

and of itself. A friend of mine has a professional

team for, like I said, PUBG. And that is just,

I mean, they're playing for tournaments. They're

being flown to Dubai. for the World Championships,

and they're playing for half a million dollars.

And I'm like, wait, you're playing on your phone?

Hold on, huh? I remember getting my first phone,

which was a flip phone, and Snake being the coolest

thing. I didn't get the text until I was like

a freshman in college on my side flip rumor phone.

And now I have kids competing for half a million

dollars playing a game on their phone? Grow up,

Count Chocula. I remember the flip phone era.

Dude! With Snake and playing chess. Oh my god!

That's all you had. That was literally all you

had. The times, they are a -changing. Oh yeah,

definitely. Definitely. I mean, if you're cutting

this, you're going to have a blast cutting this

back and forth. I'm sorry. so uh so explain a

little bit of uh of what uh popping off is yeah

sure man um so popping off is a it's it's essentially

it's a it's a video cast that we have right now

through a network called fntsy um it is honestly

it's pop culture seen through the lens of a pop

vinyl um and so that's usually how we start each

show off we show off one of the pop vinyls and

then we go into Pop culture. I'm usually the

one that's talking to things of substance. That's

really how I try to gear everything around it.

But it is four hosts. We have Danny Otto, our

Corey Bear, and our own friend Greg. But it's

a complete team, and it's a team of all people

that I'm friends with. Being in a predicament

to be able to work with people that you're actually

friends with rather than just being thrown into

like you're just coworkers. Again, just you know

within your network. You're talking about the

guy that you're friends with. Um, this is a legit,

we are all friends before we started doing this.

And so it's really cool to be able to kind of

see this grow. And, um, yeah, man, it's just,

it's, it's nerd culture and it's really embracing

that. And again, that's why I was really drawn

to want to kind of, you know, be a part of, of

this with you is because it's, this community

is so accepting and inviting of everyone, no

matter the age. And it's, it's just, it's a really

fun show. It's a really fun thing to be a part

of. So that's popping off. Yeah, and people should

definitely check that out. I'll have links in

the show notes as well on the website. So how

can the listeners get a hold of you and find

out more about you online? I am heavy on my Instagram

and my Twitter at ThePeteWestwood. I know I might

sound like I have peanut butter in my mouth.

The, T -H -E, ThePeteWestwood. Um, and you know,

Facebook's the same. I'm usually all about, you

know, again, pop culture, thought leading. Um,

I post a lot of stuff, random stuff, just trying

to inspire and just get kind of get people excited

about life in general. It's, it's, it's interesting,

dude. Life is just, the universe is weird. And

again, the universe is really weird. And so,

uh, I feel like it's put some stuff out there,

create, be a part of some things. And, uh, I'll

get on the same page. I think, I think. That's

why I'm so attracted to the nerd community, it

seems like. Everyone seems to be on the same

page. And if they aren't, they just create their

own. They create their own, dude. People gravitate

towards it. Totally. So I'd like to thank you

again, Peter, for taking the time out of your

busy schedule to hang out with us here on Altered

Geek. Oh, dude, I appreciate me. I'm sorry for

the cutting on this. And I know that we went

on some rants. I hope this was fun. I hope you

were at least entertained. Um, and I appreciate

having on, you know, I'm looking forward to hopefully

getting you on popping off here soon. Awesome.

Yeah. And definitely I'll, I'll, uh, be connecting

with you after for sure. Awesome. Dude, again,

I jam me on. Yep. So until next time, get altered,

get geeky with the altered geeks.