Hola, Sneaquaros! And welcome to another episode of the show with the unhealthy glamour complex! This week: Ian and Dave hear the sounds of silence; show how much they care; visit Dave’s imaginary world; quote contradictory adages; figure out what sports teach us; receive a participation ribbon; confess the value of validation and admit it’s pretty worthless; eat a deep-fried pickle dog; marvel at the number of Canadian awards; go to the PNE and find too many haunted houses, discover the future sucks, ride the best roller coaster, find some scary rides, and see some disappointing robots; they also bemoan disappointing endings and reveal the nonsense of time travel. (drops mic)
It’s getting pretty close now to our 250th episode so don’t forget to think up some questions for our upcoming Listener’s Questions Episode. As per usual, we’ll have goody bags for all participants and a grand prize that we’ll raffle off to one lucky questioneer. Every question equals one chance so the more questions you ask – the more chances you have to win! Contact us via Twitter, Facebook, or our email at sneakyd@sneakydragon.com or write to us via the comments section here on the website.
Remember: all particpants get a goody bag including this little number, The Bumper Book of We’re So Jar – a collection of Ian and Dave’s jam comics!
Thanks for listening.
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Mmmm, that’s good room tone… Here’s something weird though. As a relative newbie to Sneaky Dragonland, I’m counting down the days to episode 250 while also delving back into the depths of the archive. And what does Dave say at the start of episode 2? ‘Only 248 to go!’ Could be the most slow burning plug for an upcoming show ever. Unless you guys really are time travellers, of course.
The first book with a time travel theme that impressed me as a teen was Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonflight (1968) from the Dragonriders of Pern series. It was the first time I encountered the “if you do it, you did it” rule of time travel which a lot of book and movies use. So if characters go back in time, they usually run across evidence in the present that they went back in time. (An old note in their handwriting, a stranger knowing their name, etc.)
When I’m reading a book or watching TV or film with a time travel plot, I don’t get too hung up temporal paradoxes and or argue over whether something would “really” happen if time travel were possible. I just want a writer to establish the rules of how time travel works in their world and stick to it as they unfold their plot.
I don’t know if they qualify as time travel stories, but my favourite movies in that genre are “do-over” movies where the protagonist solves a problem or grows as a character through reliving events over and over. Eg. Groundhog Day, Source Code, Edge of Tomorrow, About Time. They are really allegories for life…that you should learn from past mistakes and pay attention to your relationships in the present in order to achieve the future you desire.
I started listening to the podcast just a couple of months ago and its quickly become a favorite. I’ve been traveling back in time catching up with the old shows and enjoying both new and classic Sneaky Dragon very much.
The first time travel stories I saw were probably on Star Trek – City on the Edge of Forever and Tomorrow is Yesterday. When I was a kid the local tv station in Miami showed Time Tunnel after Star Trek. Most time travel stories on tv seemed to me to have same lesson as the film It’s a Wonderful Life…that each life is connected to so many others and one little alters everything.
My favorite time travel films are “Time After Time” (if you haven’t seen it, the movie stars Malcolm McDowell as HG Wells going after Jack the Ripper who has used Wells time machine to go to the 20th Century).and “Groundhog Day”. I also enjoyed the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode where they revisit the Trouble with Tribbles. Loved the idea of a branch of Star Fleet whose job is to investigate time travel violations.
A couple of questions for your 250th episode (if it’s not too late to submit those)…on one of your earlier episodes you spoke about favorite movie comedians like Buster Keaton and you’ve also talked about some favorite stand-up comedians. I wondered what (if any) humor writers/comic novelists/essayists you’ve enjoyed or have influenced you.
Another questions…have you seen the film Don’t Think Twice and what did you think of it?
Also wondered about where Sneaky Dragon came from?
An answer: Of course, if you think about it long enough the opposite is also true.
Sorry for the long message! I may go back in time and edit it.
Time travel!
My favourite time travel book is “The Anubis Gates” by Tim Powers. The setup is that not only is time travel possible, but the corporation that discovered how is sending rich people back in time as a way of fundraising. The protagonist, Brendan Doyle, a scholar of an 18th century poet, is hired to be a sort of tour guide for a group going back in time to see an impromptu reading by Coleridge; except he gets separated from the rest of the group and stranded in the past by the underlings of an immortal Egyptian sorcerer whose spellcraft enabled time travel in the first place. It’s a crazy book.