Episode 57 – My, What Big Hands You Have

Scott: Friends with Microphone Levels.

Scott: Friends with Brews.

Scott: All right.

Peter: And Friends with Audio Hijack on this side.

Peter: I think we’re good.

Scott: Oh man, wow.

Peter: We’re good right up until the place when I shoved my glasses into the microphone.

Scott: Yeah, and the fact that we’re talking about testing to make sure we’re actually recording and that we know what we’re doing.

Scott: If anybody, whatever, we are experts, don’t try this at home, we’re good at what we do, clearly.

Peter: Clearly.

Scott: We’re among the best, yeah.

Peter: Scott, you’re Scott, Peter, I’m Peter.

Peter: What are you drinking today?

Scott: Well, my coffee is a repeat.

Scott: Let’s see here, friendswithbrews.com.

Scott: Don’t do this on the web.

Scott: I’m searching friendswithbrews.com for back porch.

Scott: Don’t everybody do that on the general web.

Scott: You’ll get stuff you don’t wanna see.

Scott: But back porch coffee roasters, back porch blend.

Scott: That is the coffee that I’m drinking today, Peter.

Scott: And after you tell me what you’re drinking, then I’ll tell you my other beverage.

Peter: Okay, I am drinking a repeat guest coffee as well, with a caveat.

Peter: This is Wegmans decaf espresso roast, brewed in my AeroPress, ground in my fellow Opus.

Peter: However, it is now diluted with my homemade rice milk, influenced by Scott Jurek’s recipe out of his book Eat and Run.

Scott: Who is that guy anyway?

Peter: Super famous ultra marathoner.

Scott: No, I was joking, because last episode you said…

Peter: I know.

Scott: This is where you say who’s that guy.

Peter: Yeah, I know.

Peter: Anyway, rice milk, a little bit of sugar, and about a teaspoon of Lake Champlain chocolates, spicy Aztec cocoa mix.

Peter: So it’s like a rice milk coffee.

Scott: Thank God, I thought you were going to say a teaspoon of Lake Champlain, and I was like, don’t drink it, Peter.

Peter: Cheers to drinking Lake Champlain.

Scott: Okay, and then I also have something that I shouldn’t be drinking, but it won’t be around anymore by the time we podcast again.

Scott: So I’m having, now, you know, you remember that I couldn’t find the Three Owls or whatever the drink that I want so badly again, from Little Beast Brewing, but I did find a Folkwanger dark ale, and this is pretty good.

Peter: Folkwanger.

Scott: Folkwanger.

Peter: Dark ale, sounds kind of good.

Peter: Does sound good.

Scott: I don’t know what that’s German for.

Scott: I’m shudder to think it’s probably like Folkwanger or something.

Peter: Wander, Wander.

Peter: Feels like I should know what that means.

Scott: I think it’s a G.

Peter: Oh, wait, is it Wanger?

Scott: It’s either a G or they’ve done some serious weirdness with their label.

Peter: Okay.

Scott: ChatGBT, what is a Wanger?

Scott: I can’t tell you that, and how dare you call me one?

Peter: Uh, yeah, I don’t know.

Peter: I’m, it’s got me.

Scott: ChatGBT Wanger edition.

Scott: I am the Wanger.

Peter: I got nothing.

Scott: Anyway, anyway, those are the brews, and good, and I like my dark ale, since I haven’t described before.

Scott: Oh, hell, this is where I realize I’m blind and I got to find lights.

Scott: Ooh, look a light.

Scott: It says, this easy drinking toasty ale crafted with Norwegian kvikk, yeast, whatever, chocolate, wheat, kiln, the coffee malt, Calista, and some words I can’t read.

Scott: Hallertoe Blaine hops.

Scott: Don’t know what that is.

Scott: Anyway, sure, I taste all those things.

Scott: It’s pretty good.

Scott: No, I taste it.

Scott: It’s not bitter.

Scott: It’s dark, but not bitter, and it’s good.

Peter: Well, there you go.

Scott: And that’s that.

Scott: Now I’ve talked about the coffee before, so go back to many episodes ago.

Scott: Go back to…

Peter: Same.

Scott: Episode 16, I guess.

Scott: No, that was Singletruck.

Scott: Go back to episode 24, for sure.

Scott: And then there’s probably other episodes that it’s been in.

Scott: But there you go.

Peter: Let’s talk movies.

Peter: What you watching?

Peter: What you gonna watch?

Scott: Yeah, but there’s one in here that we’re not talking about watching.

Scott: Godzilla minus one.

Scott: I’m gonna watch that.

Peter: Right.

Peter: When is that coming out?

Scott: It’s out.

Peter: Wait, what?

Scott: It’s in some theaters, yeah.

Peter: I missed that.

Scott: Either that or it’s like Wednesday or something.

Scott: I know it’ll be out this week.

Scott: Not weekend, as far as I know.

Scott: It’ll be out this week.

Peter: I, okay.

Peter: In all that, like I know that was the title of the latest episode of The Weekly Planet.

Peter: I thought that was, they were, I thought they were playing, I thought that was a joke.

Peter: I didn’t really get that that was an actual movie.

Scott: No, it’s, but it’s not in the Godzilla verse.

Scott: It’s one of the Japanese ones.

Peter: Okay, that’s why.

Peter: Okay, good, good, good, good.

Peter: Fair enough, fair enough.

Peter: I was going to say, how did I miss that?

Peter: Because I was waiting for Godzilla X Kong, which makes it sound like he broke out of prison or something.

Peter: But that’s the new Monsterverse movie, is Godzilla the letter X, Kong the big monkey.

Scott: Yeah, Godzilla minus one.

Scott: It’s more of returning to the roots of him being an actual bad guy.

Scott: It’s one of the Toho movies.

Scott: Toho keeps making Godzilla movies while they’re outside the Godzilla verse, kind of, pretty much.

Peter: Right.

Peter: Well, I mean, yeah, you can do that, I suppose.

Scott: Yeah.

Scott: And so they made this one, and he’s more back to being a villain where he just smashes things up for no apparent reason.

Peter: Well, I just did a quick search, and I see Box Office Gold Derby reports under a picture of Beyoncé’s Renaissance film premiere.

Peter: Box Office, Renaissance opens in first, Godzilla roars into the top three.

Scott: So yeah, and I know it’s going to be showing in a IMAX theater here.

Scott: And then there’s also some non-IMAX ones on your hair.

Peter: I mean, I think it’s safe to say we’re going to see this movie even if we don’t see it today.

Peter: But, yeah, it was released on December 1st, and it’s playing right here in Assembly Row.

Scott: Yeah, and I want to say, I think what we should do is the ever popular…

Scott: The thing that makes everyone popular with other movers, other moviegoers, is I’m going to call you, and we’re just going to live talk the movie as it happens while we watch it together.

Peter: Yeah.

Peter: In the theater, right?

Scott: Yeah.

Scott: Yeah, yeah.

Peter: Yeah, it’s perfect.

Peter: Good.

Peter: Okay.

Peter: Well, good.

Peter: Good to know.

Scott: So, what have you watched so far?

Peter: So, I have watched, in the Monsterverse, I rewatched Godzilla, 2014, Godzilla King of Monsters, 2019, and Skull Island, 2023.

Peter: Oh, and Monarch, Legacy of the Monsters, episode one.

Scott: Okay.

Scott: So, you still need to watch Godzilla vs.

Scott: Kong again.

Peter: And also Kong Skull Island.

Peter: I watched Skull Island, I did not watch Kong Skull Island.

Peter: Skull Island is a…

Scott: Which one’s the cartoon?

Peter: Skull Island.

Peter: Just plain old Skull Island is the cartoon.

Scott: Kong Skull Island.

Scott: Why do you have to watch that?

Scott: That’s just a cartoon.

Peter: I already watched it.

Peter: I have not watched Kong Skull Island, which is the movie.

Scott: Oh, you just said Skull Island is the movie.

Peter: Nope, you said the…

Peter: Skull Island is the Netflix series.

Peter: Kong Skull Island is the movie.

Scott: Okay.

Scott: Kong Skull Island is the one I watched.

Scott: So you watched this, this whole animated series.

Scott: Is it still ongoing?

Peter: No, it was only like four or five parts that came out this summer.

Scott: Was it any good?

Peter: It’s all right.

Peter: I mean, it wasn’t as good as any of the movies.

Peter: So I didn’t really get a lot of it.

Peter: They’re like, oh, it’s canonically set in this, and it’s got some King Kong in it, and that’s about it.

Peter: There’s other big monsters, that kind of thing.

Peter: So it’s really, I don’t think you get anything out of it that you need to enjoy the rest of the MonsterVerse, although canonically speaking, it is part of the MonsterVerse.

Peter: There you go.

Peter: So, interestingly enough, Godzilla, Godzilla King of Monsters, Godzilla vs.

Peter: Kong, which is not the same as Godzilla X Kong, that’s coming up next.

Scott: No, because X means friends, buddies.

Peter: Right.

Peter: All of those are on Macs right now, and Skull Island is on Netflix.

Peter: But, Kong, Skull Island is, and I think Godzilla, wait, Godzilla vs.

Peter: Kong?

Peter: I don’t even remember now.

Peter: I’ve lost track.

Peter: I think the regular old Kong movie is not on HBO or Macs, and Monarch Legacy of Monsters is of course on Apple TV, and Skull Island is on Netflix.

Peter: So, the MonsterVerse appears to be scattered across at least three different distribution channels at this point.

Scott: But, that’s what I was going to ask you.

Scott: Is the Kong Island actually considered part of the MonsterVerse?

Scott: Does it follow the story?

Scott: Yes.

Scott: Or, oh.

Peter: You know, that’s what I’m saying is, it is written that it is canonically part of the MonsterVerse, and I don’t think you miss a single thing if you don’t see it.

Scott: Do you think they’re ever going to take it back?

Scott: Like when Star Wars was first a thing, and they let all those people write all those dumb books, and then they were eventually like, yeah, none of that ever happened.

Scott: You can all go.

Peter: None of that ever happened, even though it used to be originally like anything published in Star Wars was canon.

Peter: Yeah.

Scott: Right.

Peter: They might.

Peter: They might.

Peter: I don’t know.

Peter: The one thing it did have in it, not much of a spoiler, is classically in the movie, King Kong falls in love with a human girl, right?

Peter: Human woman.

Scott: Oh, in the original movie, the one where he climbs the state building or whatever.

Peter: In Skull Island, he has an essentially a pet, human girl.

Peter: So maybe that’s-

Scott: She’s a little girl.

Scott: She’s the deaf girl.

Scott: She’s the sign language girl.

Peter: So maybe that’s why, maybe there’s the connection there.

Peter: I don’t know.

Scott: That’s also in Kong vs.

Scott: Godzilla, I think.

Peter: I don’t think it’s the same person because reasons.

Scott: This was a little deaf girl.

Peter: No, not the same.

Scott: A little sign language girl.

Peter: Does she speak Spanish?

Scott: Nope.

Peter: Then it’s not the same girl.

Peter: So it’s a different girl.

Peter: So Kong has a thing for little women, apparently.

Peter: Very small, like fit in the palm of his hands.

Scott: This thing with the deaf girl was a friendship, not a romance.

Scott: The one I’m talking about.

Peter: Whatever.

Peter: This is a different character.

Scott: I understand that.

Scott: But what I’m asking is, is it a friendship or is it a romance?

Scott: It doesn’t have to be a romance.

Peter: Well, there’s no love scene if that’s what you’re asking.

Scott: No, I’m saying what are Kong’s intentions?

Peter: I don’t know.

Peter: He’s a freaking gorilla.

Peter: He doesn’t state his intentions.

Scott: Then I don’t think you can necessarily assume that.

Scott: You said he has a thing for, maybe he’s just her friend.

Scott: She happens to be around and she doesn’t hate him like everyone else does.

Peter: Maybe he has a thing in a platonic manner for little women.

Scott: That’s like saying I will only be friends with little women and no one else.

Peter: Okay.

Peter: How many friends does Kong have who are not little women?

Peter: And don’t say Godzilla because that’s just a little bit of mutual respect, but they’re not friends.

Scott: Peter, all of the other ones are trying to kill him.

Scott: It’s very hard to become friends when you can have the best intentions in the world and you want to be friends with people, but when they’re constantly shooting you with missiles and, you know, 50 cal guns.

Peter: Does tend to put a damper on the relationship.

Peter: Yeah.

Scott: It does make the bonding process slightly more difficult.

Peter: But that doesn’t invalidate what I’m saying.

Peter: They’re still his only friends.

Scott: And that’s why it’s because no one else takes the time to realize that Kong is actually a good, nice monkey and not shoot at him, who just happens to crush things.

Scott: Yeah.

Peter: With Hueys.

Scott: Yeah.

Scott: I mean, if somebody shot a Huey at you, you would throw their Huey on the ground.

Scott: Come on.

Peter: Okay.

Peter: So you have been watching.

Peter: So you watched Kong Skull Island and it’s this is actually pretty funny.

Scott: I’ve watched all those movies.

Peter: But recently.

Scott: Yeah.

Scott: Yeah.

Peter: Did you rewatch all of them?

Scott: Yeah.

Scott: Oh, I’ve never seen most of them.

Scott: The only one I’d ever seen was the Godzilla 2014.

Scott: I had never seen those other three.

Peter: Okay.

Peter: So you’re way ahead of me then.

Scott: Yeah.

Peter: I didn’t realize.

Peter: Well, you only listed here Kong Skull Island and Monarch.

Peter: I didn’t see that you would watch them all.

Scott: The reason why I listed those specifically was timeline wise, there’s things that I’m trying to understand.

Peter: Okay.

Peter: Got it.

Peter: Got it.

Peter: Got it.

Peter: Okay.

Peter: Well, I watched the Godzilla movies because those were the ones that was available to me.

Peter: And frankly, I like Godzilla better than Kong anyway, but you know.

Scott: I like Kong.

Scott: I do like Kong.

Scott: Last time we talked in the episode that came out, it sounds a little bit like I don’t like Kong, because I said Godzilla is the only one I care for.

Scott: I actually do like Kong as well.

Scott: Not the Kong that climbed up the state building or state tower or whatever those people in New York called their stupid.

Scott: Empire State Building.

Scott: Yeah, whatever.

Scott: The world’s all around us.

Scott: We’re in New York.

Scott: Anyway, sorry.

Scott: Did I just lose our one listener who happens to live in New York?

Scott: I don’t like that Kong, but I do like the Kong of this monster verse.

Scott: And this Kaiju verse, whatever it’s called, this verse.

Scott: And he’s a good monkey.

Scott: He just wants to be left alone.

Scott: And he gets really pissed off when people take a 50 cal and start shooting him in the behind with it.

Peter: Like you do, right?

Peter: Now similarly…

Scott: So I like him.

Peter: I like the fact, though, that, you know, that Godzilla is like literally a force of nature.

Scott: I like when Godzilla goes, okay, you say the word for me, it starts with an N, has a U after it.

Scott: I can’t say it without pissing you off, Peter.

Scott: Atomic, energy, N.

Scott: If I say it, you’re just going to go on a rant about how nobody can ever say the word.

Peter: Nuclear.

Peter: Why is it so hard to say nuclear?

Scott: I don’t know.

Scott: Who knows, Peter?

Scott: Why do some people say I’m going to go wash my car?

Peter: That’s just as bad.

Scott: Yes, it’s terrible.

Peter: Anyway, when he goes all atomic, yes, it is fun.

Peter: It is fun.

Peter: I had forgotten about that, how the end of Godzilla King of Monsters after Mothra gives him the moth dust infusion, that he’s just like, oh, you know what?

Peter: I can just explode like a nuclear right now.

Scott: Boom.

Scott: Which was the one where he just grabs the monster and blasts straight down its throat.

Scott: That was Godzilla 2014, right?

Peter: That was the first one.

Scott: He just is like, you’re having dinner and you’re not going to like it.

Peter: I have had enough of this.

Peter: I am so done with you.

Scott: Yeah.

Peter: And of course, this time in the end of, after going nuclear, he pulls, what was it?

Peter: Ghidorah?

Peter: Gamera?

Peter: I don’t know the names of all these.

Scott: Gamera?

Peter: Whoever the big three-headed one is.

Scott: Oh, that’s not Gamera.

Scott: Is that Gamera?

Peter: I don’t remember.

Peter: But anyway, after he goes all atomic on him, he kind of rips the head off and then he’s holding the head in his mouth and then he blasts it after that.

Peter: So, just to make absolutely sure, if decapitation isn’t going to be lethal enough, we’re going to vaporize the head of what’s left over, so props on being thorough.

Scott: Now Gamera was the turtle one.

Peter: Yeah, it’s not him.

Peter: Not to be confused with Squirtle from Pokemon.

Peter: I think generally the least interesting part of all these movies is the human drama.

Peter: And that should be what sets them apart.

Peter: I thought that it was at least the first episode of Monarch.

Peter: I was a little interested in what was going on.

Peter: But clarify something for me.

Peter: You’ve watched several of the Monarch episodes now, or at least a few of them.

Scott: Well, there’s been four and I’ve watched four.

Peter: You’ve watched four?

Peter: So I was splitting the hair on several versus few.

Peter: So that’s where that splitting comes from.

Peter: So you can call it whatever you like.

Peter: Question I have though is were these new characters or had we seen any of them in the movies?

Peter: Besides Godzilla, the humans.

Scott: We have not seen any of them in the movies at all as far as I know.

Peter: That’s what I thought.

Peter: That’s what I thought.

Scott: Even though the main character that we start off with, even though she was there in 2014, for some reason, getting a little bit freaked out about the fact that a giant monster was smashing everything around her and tossing her friends over the edge.

Peter: Like that doesn’t happen every day.

Peter: I mean, come on, get real.

Scott: Yeah.

Scott: And then she’s all post-traumatic from it.

Scott: It’s a very unreasonable response.

Scott: Anyway, aside from her, but she wasn’t actually in that movie.

Scott: They’re just retroactively fitting her back in.

Scott: So I think these are all new people, except for maybe episode two, maybe episode three.

Scott: I can’t remember.

Scott: You’ll meet a recurring…

Scott: Yeah.

Peter: Got it.

Peter: Got it.

Peter: Okay.

Peter: My point is, though, is like, at first when I saw the Japanese family, I was like, wait, was this supposed to be the character from Ken Watanabe’s character or…

Scott: Right.

Scott: Yeah.

Scott: No.

Peter: I was like, oh, nope.

Peter: That doesn’t look at all like him.

Peter: Did they retroactively make him?

Peter: Nope.

Peter: That’s not him.

Scott: No.

Scott: And their last name is the last name of the guy who was their grandfather.

Peter: Right.

Peter: I didn’t…

Scott: The American scientist who…

Scott: Oh, you haven’t gotten that far yet.

Peter: No.

Peter: I haven’t gotten that far.

Scott: Spoilers.

Peter: But the other thing too is like you start off in Godzilla 2014 with Bryan Cranston and family.

Scott: Right.

Scott: None of those people are in this.

Scott: Yeah.

Peter: And then you start in 2019, Godzilla King of Monsters with a whole new family.

Peter: And, you know, like watching was like…

Peter: And I’m watching this, I’m like, wait, am I supposed to remember these people?

Peter: This is not…

Peter: Is that supposed to be the wife of the character played by Bryan Cranston’s son?

Peter: No.

Peter: Nope.

Peter: That’s not…

Scott: Okay.

Peter: Oh, these are all new people?

Peter: They’re all new people.

Scott: Yeah.

Scott: And I think there’s a couple characters that carry over between Godzilla King of the Monsters and Godzilla versus Kong.

Peter: I think so.

Scott: But like the one main guy who was one of the main characters in the first one, in the second one, he just kind of stands around being stunned all the time.

Scott: Right.

Peter: Well, I think…

Peter: I don’t remember Ken Watanabe’s character, but his daughter in the movie, I’m pretty sure she shows up in Godzilla versus Kong.

Scott: Oh.

Peter: Isn’t she…

Peter: I think she’s part of the…

Peter: in the monarch facility afterwards.

Peter: I think she’s a carryover, but I don’t know.

Peter: I haven’t seen that again yet.

Peter: So I’m not sure.

Scott: I don’t know.

Peter: Anyway, there you go.

Scott: Anyway, they’re good.

Scott: They’re worth watching.

Scott: I gotta say, of all of them…

Scott: I’m sorry to say this, Mr.

Scott: Boston, but of all of them, Godzilla, King of the Monsters was the weakest one, I thought.

Peter: Oh yeah, sophomore slump.

Scott: And the ending was especially stupid when they were all bowing in supplication at Godzilla.

Scott: However, it was definitely worth watching.

Scott: I enjoyed parts of it, for sure.

Peter: Oh, I did.

Peter: It went by a lot faster than I expected it to.

Peter: So I’m thinking maybe it was Godzilla versus Kong that dragged on in the human drama part.

Peter: I don’t remember.

Scott: See, I don’t think human drama can ever be a complaint unless it’s not well done.

Peter: Well, that’s the point.

Peter: It’s not.

Peter: I think the humans are the weakest link in these movies, literally and figuratively.

Scott: And some of them, they definitely didn’t put…

Scott: That’s why I liked Monarch.

Scott: You got to watch all four of Monarch and tell me what you think, because I want to hear what you think about the progression of the show itself.

Scott: But the first two episodes especially of Monarch, when I was watching it, and I’m watching one or two, I thought the people were the strong…

Scott: I thought it was stronger people-wise and character-wise, story-wise than any of those movies were.

Peter: Yeah.

Peter: Monarch definitely was.

Peter: That’s an exception.

Peter: In Monarch, I was genuinely interested in the people and what’s going on.

Peter: I’m like, who are these people?

Peter: What’s their story?

Peter: What’s yada yada?

Peter: But then again, in Monarch, in the first episode, there’s a brief cameo with Godzilla and then a bunch of bugs.

Peter: So, there’s not a lot of giant monster action going on.

Scott: Right, so the people better be good.

Scott: But, but what I’m saying is I agree with you.

Scott: I agree that they could have done a lot better in some of the people story.

Scott: And I will also say that even though he is Samuel L.

Scott: Jackson, and it pains me to speak ill of Samuel L.

Scott: Jackson, in Kong versus, was it Kong?

Scott: No, that was Skull Island.

Scott: I was done with that guy way before he got killed because he was such an idiot.

Scott: He was a parody of an idiot that’s making irrational decisions based on emotion.

Scott: He wasn’t even the idiot making irrational decisions based on emotion.

Scott: He was just the parody of that guy.

Scott: He went straight to the parody.

Peter: Idiotic parody.

Scott: So it just was too much.

Scott: It was just like, come on, can’t this guy even look at himself and go, holy ****, what have I become?

Peter: No, he could not.

Peter: And Kong took care of that problem, didn’t he?

Scott: Yeah, Kong did, yeah.

Peter: Kong did, you’re smiling.

Scott: That was the one thing is like there are some shows like that where everybody’s going, oh, I like this and this character is hilarious.

Scott: And it’s like, no, I’m kind of done with that guy.

Scott: He was one of those ones where I was kind of done with that guy.

Peter: Got it.

Scott: But I liked most of the other people in it.

Peter: All right.

Scott: Yeah.

Peter: Well, there you go.

Peter: OK, cool.

Peter: Good to know.

Scott: Good movies.

Scott: Good times.

Scott: So when are you planning on watching Minus One?

Peter: I mean, well, I’ve got to check.

Peter: I’m heading up to Vermont to visit my dad for a couple of days.

Scott: Does your dad like movies?

Scott: Does your dad like monsters?

Scott: Does your dad like movies with monsters?

Peter: No, no, no.

Peter: So not tonight because I’ve got plans for this evening.

Peter: I teach yoga tomorrow night.

Peter: Wednesday night, I’m driving up to Vermont.

Peter: So probably not going to be until this weekend.

Scott: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Scott: Same here, probably.

Scott: One of my friends from work wants to go on Wednesday, but I’m in theory supposed to work on Wednesday.

Scott: But it’s starting to sound pretty good, so I might take some.

Scott: I’ve got a whole bunch of holiday time that I have to use before the end of the year.

Peter: I wouldn’t, you know, I would like to, but I’ve got a ton of work to do, and I can’t just like vanish.

Scott: I can’t understand that, Peter.

Scott: It’s like whatever they’re paying you, it’s like they expect you to do something for it.

Peter: And I don’t kind of weird like that.

Peter: And they want results too.

Peter: That’s the hard part.

Scott: Oh, results, not activities.

Scott: They’re those kind of people.

Peter: I know.

Peter: All right.

Scott: It’s even worse.

Peter: So let’s pivot a little bit out of the monster verse and into the podcast verse, or should I say the Apple verse?

Scott: Okay.

Peter: So talk to me.

Peter: What’s going on?

Peter: You really like the Apple Podcast app again, huh?

Scott: I do, and I don’t.

Scott: It’s a lot better than last time I tried it.

Scott: The podcast app has come a long ways in terms of UI.

Scott: It’s not nearly as confusing as it used to be, though there are still some confusing things about it.

Scott: Overcast inevitably just does what I want it to, and it does it better than any other app.

Scott: It’s just ugly.

Scott: I don’t like his stupid lozenge-shaped lists.

Scott: I don’t like…

Scott: It’s just not as good looking.

Scott: Apple Podcasts is a very slick-looking app.

Scott: But the problem with the Podcasts app is…

Scott: Well, there’s a couple things.

Scott: Number one is when I’m listening, and I’m walking around, and they get to an ad, most of the podcasts I listen to are chaptered.

Scott: And so I like to be able to just skip to the next chapter.

Scott: You can’t do that in the Podcasts app on the watch.

Scott: There is no access to chapters.

Peter: No chapter support.

Scott: Right.

Scott: And on the phone, you can access the chapters, but you have to go into the queue.

Scott: There’s a weird thing called a queue that’s only in one place, which is weird because they also have a up next thing, but that’s not the queue.

Scott: Don’t confuse it for the queue, even though the words up next would make you think maybe that’s a queue.

Scott: No.

Peter: Sounds like it’s something that you’ve queued up next.

Scott: Nope.

Scott: It’s just what’s up next.

Scott: But there’s a queue, and if you add stuff to the queue, it’ll play stuff from the queue.

Scott: And when you go into the queue, then right underneath at the very top of the screen, what’s actually playing, there’s a little drop down to access the chapters.

Scott: So that is stupid.

Scott: What else?

Scott: Other than that, like I just talked about those two things, other than that, I kind of like it.

Scott: It looks super nice.

Scott: But there’s two things about Overcast that mean I have to keep using it.

Scott: And that is, again, the chapters on the watch, even though the watch app is nicer in podcast app, the watch app on Overcast lets me do more, lets me be more selective about what I’m listening to at any given time, lets me get access to all the features better.

Scott: The other one is, of course, as you know, sharing a clip of something.

Scott: And boy, did I suddenly realized I missed that at one point, and I was like, oh.

Peter: Yeah, clip sharing is huge.

Peter: I’ve definitely gotten addicted to that.

Scott: So that’s basically why I went back to Overcast.

Scott: And look, I’m not trashing Marco because anybody who goes to my website or goes to friendswithbrews.com can immediately sense that I also am not a designer.

Scott: I totally get it.

Scott: But Apple Podcast does look better, and I do like the look of it nicer, and it is easier to do certain things in.

Scott: It’s a valid complaint.

Scott: It doesn’t mean that I’m trashing Marco.

Scott: Once again, Overcast meets my needs.

Scott: That’s basically the review I can give it.

Scott: You can’t top that.

Scott: It does what I want, and it doesn’t make me mad.

Scott: Therefore, what’s to complain about that, right?

Peter: Yeah, no, I agree.

Peter: Like visually speaking, it’s, you know, it’s okay.

Peter: It’s not, it’s not horrible, super duper, but it works.

Peter: And I have not, I don’t remember the last time I tried a different podcast app.

Peter: I forget which, the other one, there was another one I was working on.

Peter: I never, I tried Castro, I tried Snipt, which is the AI podcasting app, and I couldn’t get into it.

Peter: Don’t, don’t even say it.

Peter: There was another one though, that had a, had Sonos support, which I thought was nice, because without AirPlay, I could get the same podcast.

Peter: Now I think there’s an Apple pod, there’s an Apple podcast app for Apple TV, right?

Scott: Yes.

Peter: And I think there’s also one for the Amazon Fire TV, if I recall correctly.

Peter: I think they crossed over into that-

Scott: Really?

Peter: Eco-sphere.

Peter: Or it’s either that or it’s in Sonos, but it’s in one of my other two environments, right?

Peter: Which is appealing because AirPlay just continues to suck.

Peter: And it like, but, but I don’t want to get into a rant right now, but I’m running a beta version of Sonos stuff right now, too, and it is just wildly unstable.

Peter: The beta is.

Scott: From what I understand, the production stuff, back when I used to just wonder why are you torturing yourself with Sonos stuff, it’s not like that at all anymore with their production stuff now.

Scott: It’s really-

Peter: No, it’s usually really good.

Peter: So given a choice, like I found out the other day that I totally forgotten that I had Audible linked to my Sonos.

Peter: So, thanks to Adam over on Blurring the Lines, he convinced me to try an Audible Unlimited or an Audible one credit per month kind of thing.

Scott: Who is that guy anyway?

Peter: And I do, and I was reading a book and I was like, oh, I can do this straight away in Sonos, which is nice.

Peter: The audio quality is great, no drops or anything, except unlike the Audible app, you can’t change the playback speed.

Peter: So, once again, I’m listening to the author read his own book at a glacial pace.

Scott: This is where I have to, and I’m going to enrage a lot of people, hold on here, I have to, I need a big sign that says, opinion, opinion, opinion.

Scott: Warning, opinion, opinion, opinion, please evacuate through the opinion door.

Scott: Okay, if you have to listen to it faster than it was recorded at, that means you don’t actually want to listen to it.

Scott: You just want to get through it.

Scott: You’re a FOMO man.

Peter: I understand your opinion, and I do not share it at all.

Peter: I totally disagree.

Peter: Sometimes I want to listen to something faster.

Scott: I get it.

Scott: So, the reason I have that opinion is because for me, I found that that resulted in me having to go back and listen to things more times if I actually wanted to hear it.

Scott: If I’m doing something at the same time, and I’m listening at a fast speed, I will miss way more than if I listen to something at a normal speed.

Peter: Yes.

Peter: If you’re multitasking, I get that.

Scott: And it’s almost impossible not to multitask and listen to audio, because when else are you going to listen to it?

Scott: I don’t have time to just sit down in an easy chair and go, God damn it, I’m listening to podcasts now, and I’m going to drop right off.

Peter: I rarely do, but when I had two four-hour train rides last week to and from New York, nothing else to do and I can’t read on the train or whatnot.

Peter: So yeah, I was all listening.

Scott: Bye.

Scott: What I mean is, I found that I miss a lot, and it really started bugging my distracted sense.

Scott: I was like, I want to be intentional with my listening.

Scott: If I’m listening to this, why am I listening to it if I’m missing half of it?

Peter: Yeah, oh yeah, no, I agree with that.

Peter: I absolutely agree with that.

Peter: But I’ve gotten to a point where I can listen at much higher speeds than normal, so I like that.

Scott: Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you can.

Scott: I’m just saying, for me, it’s honestly not about a religious purity thing, as much as everybody thinks that I’m just saying, you must listen to my voice.

Peter: Opinion, opinion, opinion.

Scott: No, it’s just it literally starts bugging me because it becomes an ADD thing.

Scott: Like, I don’t have so much FOMO that I have to listen to every podcast in the world.

Scott: If I miss episodes of podcasts that are following, who cares?

Scott: That’s just how it is.

Scott: I’m never going to have time to listen to everything I would like to listen to, or that is good enough to be listened to.

Scott: So what I will do is be intentional and listen to the ones that I’m listening to in a way that doesn’t cause me to miss stuff or have to go back or just feel like…

Scott: I don’t like that edgy feeling I get when I’m listening to something that reacts all the time and it’s constantly going in my ears and finally after about two hours, I realize I’m just tense.

Scott: That was part of it.

Scott: I don’t want to be tensed up.

Scott: I don’t want to be ramped up by…

Scott: And I am a person that audio, ambient noise, I really get affected by that.

Scott: If a TV is going in the background, if a TV is going in the background and I’m trying to concentrate on something, like on my computer, like I’m trying to do a job or something, I’m trying to work, at some point I’ll just realize I am irrationally angry and I’ll realize it is because that TV in the background won’t shut up and that kind of thing.

Scott: Not everybody has that problem and I wish I didn’t.

Scott: Those of you who are saying you’re crazy, that’s good.

Scott: Be glad you’re that way.

Scott: But I am a person who is very particular about audio input to the point where I don’t like a phone conversation in one ear.

Scott: It’s either got to be speaker or it’s got to be both AirPods.

Scott: I will not hold it to my head.

Scott: I will not put in one AirPod.

Scott: That’s how particular my brain is about noise.

Scott: And why?

Scott: I don’t know, for the same reason that my daughter used to complain about the tags on her clothing.

Scott: Who knows why?

Scott: Anyway, so yeah, so I’m back to Overcast, and I’m probably going to stay there, and I hope that when he redesigns it, it’ll somehow turn out really nice.

Peter: Excellent.

Peter: Let’s hope.

Peter: Let’s hope.

Peter: All right, what else we got?

Scott: I don’t know.

Scott: What else has been going on with you?

Scott: We’ve had some software complaints that we’ve been complaining with each other back and forth.

Peter: Do we want to get into that again today?

Peter: Because I feel like we could always complain about software because there’s so much bad software out there.

Scott: Apparently, the Cybertruck has actually been released now.

Peter: I did hear that for only $70,000.

Peter: I mean only $61,000.

Scott: Can I ask you a question?

Peter: Yeah.

Scott: Are you like me?

Scott: When you look at it, does it look like it was very cheaply made?

Scott: It does not look like an expensive vehicle.

Scott: It looks like an inexpensive pile of garbage.

Scott: It looks like something a modder would throw together and call it a cool project car.

Peter: Pretty much.

Peter: Yeah.

Peter: I mean, I think that’s the whole point is like, oh, the design, it’s radical, but it was supposed to cut costs, etc.

Peter: etc.

Peter: etc.

Peter: So, yeah, I don’t know.

Peter: I’m so done with Elon Musk.

Peter: It’s not funny.

Peter: I just wish he would just implode and go away for real.

Scott: I just I don’t know who the market is because the traditional big truck guys aren’t going to it’s not going to appeal to them because there’s nowhere to put their giant flag in their gun rack.

Peter: And I’m sure that’s not an add-on.

Peter: You can’t you can’t buy that as an add-on.

Scott: I don’t think so.

Scott: You would think that Elon Musk would be all in favor of that.

Scott: But I don’t know.

Scott: I don’t know who this appeals to.

Scott: I guess I guess this appeals to the same types of nerds who, you know, program for a living at company XYZ, but then they ride up on a Harley in order to compensate for the fact that they’re programmers and they’re probably going to get beat up standing alone at the cafeteria.

Scott: I don’t know.

Peter: Yeah.

Peter: I mean, it’s it looks like something out of a like a 1960s sci-fi movie.

Scott: It does.

Peter: Not out of a 21st century sci-fi movie.

Scott: It looks like something from when from when way back when before we knew that Mel Gibson was alcoholic, you know.

Scott: It looks like something that he would be driving.

Peter: It does.

Scott: Oh, Mel Gibson, right?

Scott: And Elon Musk, the anti-Semitism angle.

Scott: It’s all coming together.

Scott: It’s all coming together.

Peter: You have brought it all back together now.

Peter: I think that’s great.

Peter: And on that note, I think we should put a pin in this episode.

Peter: Well done, sir.

Peter: Well done.

Peter: Folks, if you want to get ahold of us, you can find us because you already have.

Peter: But if you’ve forgotten how you found us in the last 45 minutes, you can find us at friendswithbrews.com.

Peter: That’s B-R-E-W-S.

Peter: And he’s Scott.

Peter: I’m Peter.

Peter: He’s on Mastodon.

Peter: I’m on Mastodon.

Peter: You can find links on the website.

Scott: Yeah, just go to friendswithbrews.com/ about or friends.

Scott: I don’t know.

Scott: There’s the URL.

Peter: Or just keep listening where you found us in the first time.

Peter: So cool.

Peter: All right, sir.

Peter: I think on that note, we should push it.

Scott: The big.

Scott: The red.

Scott: The button.

Scott: Tell your friends.

Peter: Friends.