The Flopcast

It's summer concert report time, because our white and nerdy hero "Weird Al" Yankovic just came through New England with his "Strings Attached" tour, featuring an entire symphony orchestra! Kornflake and Doornail scored VIP tickets to the New Hampshire show, where they ventured backstage and met Weird Al himself (plus a bunch of Stormtroopers). Weird Al's Boston show was next, at an outdoor venue on a nasty hot day, but we all dared to be stupid and showed up anyway. (Hey, it was the 30th anniversary of Al's movie UHF; our plan was to beat the heat by drinking from the fire hose.) Anyway, if you've always felt that Weird Al shows suffered from a lack of oboe players... do not miss this tour. Also: We're freaked out by giant crazy sea birds, and we're celebrating Hilary Swank's birthday, because she will always be our next karate kid.

Direct download: Flopcast_377.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:12pm EDT

The longest summer in history continues, thanks to our ill-conceived project of watching all the horrifying sequels to that classic summer camp comedy, Meatballs. Tonight we're suffering through Meatballs III: Summer Job, which is even worse than Meatballs II, and is not even set at a summer camp. But it does offer an early starring role for Patrick Dempsey, replacing Chris Makepeace from the original movie as Rudy (and rendering the character creepy and unlikable). Meanwhile Sally Kellerman is way too good for this movie, but there she is, in a role so bizarre we'd rather not even discuss it. (But we do.) A few other Meatballs III actors are recognizable as well, from The Muppet Movie, WarGames, the 90s X-Men cartoon, and being married to Gene Simmons. And one quick scene brings to mind a certain Martian we're sort of obsessed with around here. Throw in the River Rats (a gang of creeps on jet skis), an angry bull attacking everyone, and a soundtrack featuring Loverboy, and it's hard to imagine how it all went wrong. But yikes, it sure did. Join us and we'll get through it together. And if you feel like you need something to ease the pain, we're celebrating National Refreshments Day too! We recommend iced coffee. Always.

Direct download: Flopcast_376.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:14am EDT

Kevin and the Mayor of Chickentown have just returned from CONvergence, a wonderful science fiction/fantasy convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota. So we're reviewing our whole crazy Fourth of July weekend in the upper midwest, including: Kevin's panels on Aquaman, Riverdale, and DC comic books, TV shows, and movies; the Mayor's panels on She-Ra, Doctor Who, The Magicians, and choosing your own adventure; CONvergence guest of honor, writer, and internet sensation Chuck Tingle; concerts from The Doubleclicks, Beth Kinderman and the Player Characters, Karl Brown, The Dregs, and The Gernsback Continuum; comedy and role-playing games with Joseph Scrimshaw; the amazing Nerdlesque dancers; The University of Minnesota Raptor Center's giant birds; lots of amazing cosplay (including Admiral Pepper's Lonely Death Star Band, a chicken group, and our own Mayor's Eleven/Eleven costume); field trips away from the convention for cider, Chinese food, the Mary Tyler Moore statue, and of course, the giant blue chicken; and yeah, even more. 'Twas a festive convention in a terrific new location, and we threw our new Flopcast badge ribbons at everyone we met. Also: We're celebrating the birthday of America's gremlin-loving sweetheart, Phoebe Cates. Slip into a red bikini, or not, and join us.

Direct download: Flopcast_375.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:02pm EDT

We're still recovering from last week's movie night (Summer camp aliens! Run for your lives!), so it's a simple show this week, catching up on our recent silly activities. Including: Kornflake on the road in search of adventure and/or relaxation; the music of Carbon Leaf; a live album release show by The Great Molasses Flood; another Moth storytelling show with Matthew Dicks; the Mayor onstage at Old School Game Show; Kevin running around an island for no good reason; and random encounters in Boston with AT-ATs, the Pride parade, and exploding rabbits. Also: It's National Dive Bar Day. So go somewhere that's sketchy, shady, and creepy (you really want all three), and belly up.

Direct download: Flopcast_374.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am EDT

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