Hola, Sneakers. Welcome to the podcast that made it to episode 423!
This week on Sneaky Dragon: us be us; open creeps; people saturation; help reviews; learn boredom; lawn maintenance saturation point; frugal youth; arts and entertainment; passing fame; musical life span; stick up for the love children; edgy host; truck-driving apes; shut up. actor; crazy famous; blue-collar profession; magic hands; disparagement; anti-intellectuals; whack-a-celebrity; the cornered persona; colleges aren’t funny anymore; Question of the Week – Sneakers respond; good guy Dracula; time for a beard; horn dog penis; TV recommendations; stabbing is bad; TV unrecommendations; best lines for me; maudlin Muppets; strange kids show moments; Captain Kangaroo nerd; stressed-out brain food; recharging time; and, finally, some band recommendations.
Question of the Week: When did you stop listening to another podcast and why? (Obviously the original question was why did you stop listening to Sneaky Dragon, but I guess no one will answer that question.)
Sub-question: What is something from your childhood that will soothe your stressed-out brain?
Thanks for listening.
Here is a “Good morning, captain” supercut ending in a VERY 70s bubblegum-country theme song:
The appearance by Big Bird at Jim Henson’s funeral:
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Here are three more horrible musicals, I mean, horror musicals, to add your list. Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Phantom of the Opera, and Jekyll & Hyde.
That last one famously starred David Hasselhoff who took over the two title roles on Broadway later in the run. There is a live-to-tape recording of the show on YouTube but your thrill-seeking listeners might like to check out his big solo number “Confrontation” in which he switches between the two characters using only lighting cues, a partly blood-stained shirt and his strategically-gelled hair.
I’d just like to see The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hasselhoff. Where a man turns into David Hasselhoff at night.
Also check out Anna and the Apocalypse on Netflix. A Scottish horror-comedy-musical from a couple of years ago. It was a passion project for its creator, and he laboured for years to get it made, but then died halfway through filming from cancer. Having brain surgery myself recently, that just made me want to see it more, and enjoy it more. As creators, we all want to leave a legacy behind of some kind. Anyway, I loved it. The songs are great.
Also, been finding some great comedy on Netflix recently. Derry Girls, an Irish show set in the 90s, is densely packed with jokes (two seasons, a third coming) – then if you’re missing the Irish accent, you can move on to Can’t Cope, Won’t Cope. And right now I’m watching Can You Hear Me? on Netflix, a fairly gritty Quebecois series (originally on CBC Gem, I think) focused on three 20-something girls trying to do their best in the crappy lives they were born into.
Dead to Me on Netflix is also great – resting mostly on the acting (largely from Linda Cardellini who you should hate but just can’t) and the terribly soapy plot twists. I don’t know that it’s under the radar though, as a second season is on the way.
Thanks for the viewing tips! And I hope you’re doing well with your health and in everything else. Good luck with your Kickstarter (anyone who wants to know more about it please click on Caanan’s name above!)
Seconding Derry Girls. It’s fantastic.
Thanks for the recommendation, Caanan. I was amused to discover that in addition to being a sort of High School Musical meets Shaun of the Dead, Anna and the Apocalypse is also a CHRISTMAS movie! So along with your zombies-as-metaphor for high school angst, you also have your mindless observance of Yuletide rituals, including the school Christmas pageant. I got a laugh out of the power-mad teacher character. Like him, my sister is on the health and safety committee at her school. I’m sure there are a few students she wouldn’t mind feeding to the undead to get them out of her classroom.
The two questions of the week kind of go hand-in-hand actually. First, the second question: As you guys probably already know, a healthy dose of laughter and mirth is all I need from any Marx Brothers film or appearance to make me feel whole again. Something about them just brings me peace and centers me, just as they did for me as a kid.
A few years ago when there was so much vitriolic trolling and hate being cast at The Last Jedi, that I had to actually block myself off from that part of Facebook. I did so by going right into the few Marx Brothers Facebook pages where everything was kind, civil and fun. Being a Star Wars Alpha fan for almost as long as I was a Marx fan (42 years), I couldn’t take the negativity and all the toxic backlash aimed at The Last Jedi as it also took a strain on three of my friendships both in and out of Facebook. That’s about the time I discovered Full Marx as I took to podcasts to see what other Marx Brothers medium (if any) was being offered….imagine my surprise! Along with Full Marx I also found the guys over at the Marx Brothers Council Podcast, so I now had a brimming alternative of Marx content to experience instead of the soul crushing anger aimed at The Last Jedi. By the way, I really do appreciate David’s intelligent assessment of The Last Jedi during the recent Fansplainers episodes, hearing that really did it justice…I just wish more people felt the same and would take the time to at least understand how fandom works. If you think Star Wars is a fan of you and will fulfill all your selfish expectations then you’re doing it wrong. It’s the other way around, you can only be a fan of Star Wars and accepting of it, if you’re angered by what you don’t get out of it…that’s your fault, not Star Wars.
So now to Question 1. After I polished off all the Full Marx episodes and caught up on the Marx Brothers Council I went back to search for any more Marx podcasts. I found a Gilbert Gottfried episode that was fine but then I found one series titled “This is Rad!” with one episode that was seemingly centered around The Marx Brothers. Instead it was a studio full of idiots, high, drunk or otherwise that couldn’t prepare one cohesive thought as they attempted to discuss the Marxes with one of their “expert” friends. It was horrific and I couldn’t finish it, so that was the only podcast I’ve actually walked away from for obvious reasons. I don’t listen to a huge amount of podcasts but I’m sure just like anything there are good and bad options out there.
> Question of the Week: When did you stop listening to another podcast and why?
I tend to drift away until I unsubscribe, particularly if it’s a show that requires attention. The one podcast that I deliberately stopped listening to was Slate’s “The Political Gabfest”, which is a good show, but I can’t handle that much news about Trump.
> Sub-question: What is something from your childhood that will soothe your stressed-out brain?
Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels are my mental comfort food. I got into them in my tween years (I think), and devoured them ’til my early twenties. Some of them are duds, but he had a streak of great books.
I also have a soft spot for old video games, but I don’t have the systems any more. There’s emulation, but I don’t have it set up to play on my TV, and playing SNES games on my desktop feels wrong.
I just realized I was answering the previous week’s questions!
1 – I stop listening to podcasts when I get behind then listen to several episodes in a row and their formulaic nature is revealed. It gets kind of dull. Here’s to having no formula, Dragons!
2 – I put on movies and tv shows from my teenage years to make me really comfortable. (Having moved countries and left everything behind, there’s not much else from my childhood I can grab on to.) Favourites are Back to the Future and I have the full series of Degrassi (it was big in Australia. Don’t judge!) and Press Gang on DVD. Everyone should watch Press Gang! I know everyone is aware of him now from Who, Sherlock and Dracula) but it’s the best thing Steven Moffat has ever done. Also his first.