All Things Fun! Podcast – Halloween Episode

Better late than never, here’s "Season 2: Episode #4 It's The Great Pumpkin All Things Fun!" taped live at the comics and gaming store All Things Fun! in West Berlin NJ.

Join Ed Evans and Wes Hitchins as they welcome Jess as the new show producer in this horror themed Halloween show! Glenn Walker and Allison Eckels talk about death in comics while Ed runs us through some game news and Wes previews Thunderstone and The Adventurers. Wes then picks some of his favorite horror games!

You can send feedback to feedback@allthingsfun.net or online at www.allthingsfun.net/bbs. You can also call our new feedback voicemail number 1-856-448-GAME(4263).

Bonus! To see Jess's Show Notes visit: www.allthingsfun.net/jess_notes.

Show Map:
0:00: Intro
7:37: Death in Comics (Part 1)
16:02: Quick Comic Review
16:50: Death in Comics (Part 2)
27:53: Game News & Previews
44:07: Halloween Horror Games
55:13: End Credits
56:49: End

Direct download: ATFPodcast_S2_Ep04_10_31_09.mp3

Enjoy! And remember, when in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area, stop by All Things Fun! the store!

Kevin Smith in Philly

I’m a huge Kevin Smith fan. I love his movies, his comics, his writing, his podcast, even that animated “Clerks” thing, but most of all I love his DVDs of his Q&As. He’s done three so far, surely more to come, but the other night I finally got to see the man in action live.

We had great seats, third row, which were a birthday present from the lovely Bride and the Merriam Theater is a terrific place to see anything – not huge, but small enough to have some intimacy. A little after eight the man came out, in gigantic clothes. We all know about his weight problems, but it’s darn hard to tell when he’s wearing clothes that appear to be several sizes too big for him. It was like a flashback to David Byrne in the big suit.

Kevin Smith began the festivities with a story about one of the previous times he’d been to Philadelphia - when not only did his father get to see him at a comic con and his whole family got together for a great dinner and discussion – but his father passed away later that night. Yeah, Kevin started the night on a down note, but he quickly recovered, telling a tale of his dad that had a much more pleasant ending.

The night quickly moved to the question and answer portion of the event there after with topics ranging from the Twilight phenomenon to Smith’s working with ‘the Bruce Willis persona’ on the upcoming film not-to-be-titled A Couple of Dicks to how and why he ended up on “DeGrassi High.” Further questions dealt with Smith’s ‘rivalry’ with Reese Witherspoon, the health of Jason Mewes and social networking.

Kevin ended the night with tales of former Film Threat writer and friend Malcolm Ingram and an exploration of bear society. I had a great time and have to say Kevin Smith live is better than Kevin Smith on DVD. I look forward to his next tour and, as always, his next films. Rock on, Kevin, and thanks to The Bride.

Is Local News Dead?

Is local news dead, or have they just given up?

This afternoon was marred by the tragic shootings in Fort Hood, TX, and details are still coming in. I spent a lot of my afternoon switching channels back and forth between CNN, Headline News, MSNBC and Fox News - and they were all covering the story.

I noted the time, and realized that two of our local network affiliates had news programs on air (ABC had "Oprah" and you don't mess with Oprah) so I turned to them. I was informed of Wyclef Jean was in town and that Sarah Palin is on a book tour. I switched a few times more between channels 3 and 10 and learned that pets can get the H1N1 virus and that Phillies fans are sad.

Wtf? No coverage of Fort Hood??? Shocked, just shocked. Now I know where not to go for my news. Apparently local news is anxious to go the way of the newspapers.

Déjà Vu All Over Again

ABC’s remake of the 1980s TV series "V" began last night and having lived through the first time, I have to ask why. Other than the idea of using better special effects and telling different stories I don’t know why it was remade. Much like a good joke, once you know the punchline the joke just doesn’t carry the same impact.

I remember the first time "V" aired, over two decades ago, on NBC. Everyone was talking about it the next day, this clever science fiction mini-series, and when the secret of the Visitors was revealed... oh man, let’s just say if the internet had existed, it would have broken in half. But that’s just the thing, when you think of "V" – those of us who remember it- you think of the secret... and like I said, when you already know, the impact is considerably less.

"V" is very much like some of the best episodes of "The Twilight Zone" – you know the episode by the shock twist ending, like "Eye of the Beholder" and "To Serve Man." One of my favorite "TZ" episodes is "Button, Button," by Robert Bloch, which coincidentally has been remade as The Box coming out this Friday. This is another case like "V." If you know the episode, you know the ending, so for me, there’s no point in seeing this flick as I know how it ends.

Now while "V" may have slipped the minds of folks over the years and now be catering to a new generation, "Twilight Zone" has never left the consciousness of the public, being a pop culture institution in syndication now for decades. I just don’t get it, why remake it?

As far as the new "V" is concerned, the first episode held my interest barely. The subplots were far more interesting than the Visitors themselves, a mistake for a series about the Visitors, but we’ll see. Or some of us will. I’m not sure how long I’ll hang with it.

For a more in-depth look at ABC’s "V," as well as the original, check out Andrew Burns’ review over at the very cool website Biff Bam Pop!

The Sound of Silence

A few thoughts came to me the other night while watching the World Series. Folks across the rest of the country don’t like Philadelphia. Especially when it comes to sports. Not that I blame them. Philly sports fans have a rather nasty reputation – throwing corroded batteries at opposing team fans, hurling insults about outfielders’ mothers, even throwing snowballs at Santa Claus – yeah, we’re a unique bunch. And the rest of the country hates us.

This fact becomes most apparent when watching nationally televised sports events. Ever watch “Monday Night Football” when the Eagles are playing? Never a positive thing said about the team. Even the sportscasters are rooting for the other team. At the World Series games played this week in Philadelphia, the Fox network cameras focused more on Yankees fans in the stands than the 90% of Phillies fans on hand.

It gets so bad that many Philly sports fans will have the TV on mute and listen to local announcers on the radio to at least get a semi-fair accounting of the game. This is something I’ve done for years, and it occurs to me that with the graphics on screen these days – do we really need announcers at all anymore?

Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn are much missed local announcers for the Phillies but if folks remember they knew when to be quiet. Today’s announcers have the obnoxious habit of filling every empty second with some obscure fact or just pointless babble. It’s not needed. Sometimes announcer quiet and the sound of the crowd is all that is needed. Just my opinion.