Since two geeky conventions happened the same weekend, we divided and conquered. Kornflake wandered up to New Hampshire for Granite Game Summit, where she enjoyed a new game called Junk Art (but don't forget the classics, kids; we're still endlessly amused by Hungry Hungry Hippos). Meanwhile Kevin was at Super Megafest, along with the guys from Rubber Chicken Comics, the ladies of Wicked Geeky, Niki Luparelli and the Gold Diggers, "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart, Ralph Macchio (The Karate Kid), David Mazouz (Gotham), Richard Dean Anderson and Richard Grieco (best known for their Facts of Life backdoor pilots), Aileen Quinn (from the 1982 Annie movie, and her fun new band The Leapin' Lizards), and yes, Meat Loaf. Also: Our friends Kyle and Lindsay made a VERY quick trip to Massachusetts (because they were kidnapped by Kornflake) for water aerobics, brunch, and butterflies. (You're all watching Kyle's new cartoon series Mighty Magiswords, right? RIGHT?) And it's National Cookie Monster Day, which is good enough for us.

This week we're rolling (Del Amitri-style) back twenty years to recall the music of 1996. (You can blame Dar Williams; we just saw her in concert celebrating the 20th anniversary of her classic Mortal City album...) 'Twas an odd time in music... while the post-grunge pop charts were dominated by the likes of Celine Dion and those Macarena dudes, some interesting new acts were breaking through too. Some of them stuck around for a while (Alanis Morissette, Blues Traveler, No Doubt), while others had just a hit single and a weird band name (Spacehog, Dog's Eye View... and yikes, Deep Blue Something). The Barenaked Ladies broke into their old apartment, Dishwalla counted blue cars, and Tracy Bonham just kept screaming at her mother. Joan Osborne had some questions about God... but World Pasta Day is this week, and we're more curious about the Flying Spaghetti Monster. So relax at your favorite coffee shop (that's certainly where we spent most of 1996) and enjoy the show. We hope you find it even better than Ezra.

If you're a fan of Wonder Woman and/or potatoes, we have more podcast recommendations; rapper Eminem has a birthday this week (can you guess which one of us is a fan?); in the long-awaited return of "Chickens in the News," we find a chicken crossing the road in Scotland (probably searching for the Bay City Rollers); and we preview next weekend's Super Megafest convention, featuring comedy from our pals Niki Luparelli and Ken Reid, as well as stars from Good Times, Gotham, The Karate Kid, The Outsiders, Annie, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and a forgotten backdoor pilot episode of The Facts of Life. (We still believe that "Tootie's Aunt and MacGyver" could've been a big hit...)

This week we rediscover Big John Little John (a lost classic of 1970s Saturday morning TV, starring Robbie Rist!); during weird trips to the dentist, Kevin gets a flu shot and Kornflake gets a flop wreath (both will protect us through the winter); our new stack of comic books includes Josie and the Pussycats (alas, they're not in outer space... yet), The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror (featuring Homer as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man), and Wonder Woman: The True Amazon (by Jill Thompson, who once gave us cupcakes); Would I Lie to You (Kornflake's favorite British game show) is back, with some familiar guest stars; and we end with a "What's in the Bag" segment, compliments of an old friend of the Flopcast who knows what we like. (That'd be chickens and robots, of course.)

It's election season (had you noticed?), and the Mayor of Chickentown buys our votes with magical coffee-themed gifts; in case you're somehow not sick of our voices yet, we list our recent guest appearances on other podcasts (talking about DragonCon, Watchmen, iZombie, and more); Siri teaches us all about crayfish (for one thing, they're not made of crayons -- thanks for nothing, Ms. Russo's eighth grade biology class!); Mighty Magiswords, that crazy awesome cartoon created by our pal Kyle, is now a series on Cartoon Network (we haven't been this excited since Fangface); and it's National Kale Day... but we're just going to stick with our coffee.