Tron: Ares, Arc Lighter, & ReStory
About This Episode
We reflect on the first season of a new TV series that explores Stephen King’s clown-centric horror universe, check out a decorative piece of technology for Christmas that will invoke some arcade memories, and play the early preview of a Zen-like game where the goal is to restore vintage electronics.
(May contain some explicit language.)
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Show Notes
- Now You See Me, Now You Don’t » youtu.be/-E3lMRx7HRQ?si=68fV0P35IrapJ1Bo
- Tron: Ares » youtu.be/YShVEXb7-ic?si=L1dItK8TG8TVlAfQ
- Welcome to Derry » youtu.be/oKa6u7LT0qE?si=pO0wqgjIHo7FSO3z
- Electric Arc Lighter » amzn.to/3MI3Z5n (affiliate)
- WOLFBOX Electric Air Duster » amzn.to/4pRZILw (affiliate)
- Star Trek™: Strategic Operations Simulator Arcade Game Ornament With Light and Sound » www.hallmark.com/ornaments/keepsake-ornaments/star-trek-strategic-operations-simulator-arcade-game-ornament-with-light-and-sound-5QXI8815.html
- Capes » store.steampowered.com/app/2081080/Capes/
- The Darkside Detective » store.steampowered.com/app/368390/The_Darkside_Detective/
- The Darkside Detective Live » youtube.com/live/-1baoJQbC-s?feature=share
- ReStory » store.steampowered.com/app/3812600/ReStory_Chill_Electronics_Repairs/
- Avatar: Fire and Ash » youtu.be/nb_fFj_0rq8?si=zb3LDLfwTzfqP0jo
- The Copenhagen Test » youtu.be/cfTcNb104NI?si=e6KOFdW6OJNwFxY4
- Startfleet Academy » youtu.be/rHDDzcyNWGs?si=4GdOHC481cSWW1Ik
- Email the show » podcast@genxgrownup.com
- Visit us on YouTube » GenXGrownUp.com/yt
TRANSCRIPT
| Jon | Welcome back, Gen X Grown Up Podcast listener to this episode 203 of the Gen X Grown Up Podcast. I am John. Joining course, my friends and co-host, George. Hey, man, how you doing? |
| George | Hey, how’s it going, everybody? |
| Jon | And you know that Mo is here. Hey, Mo. |
| Mo | Hey, how’s it going? |
| Jon | All right, in this episode, we reflect on the first season of a new TV series exploring Stephen King’s clown-centric horror universe. Check out a decorative piece of technology for Christmas that’ll invoke some arcade memories and play the early preview of a zen-like game where the goal is to restore vintage electronics. |
| Jon | We’ll get to those topics and many more in this episode, but first, it is time. There’s fourth listener email. The three of us are here. We may listen. George has gone on the record saying he doesn’t. |
| George | yeah |
| Jon | But if anyone else does, that will be our fourth listener. And i want to share an email from a fourth listener who hit us up on YouTube where we cross post these episodes a little bit after they publish here on the feed. |
| Jon | And this is from Steve F. And he listened to George. Remember, we recorded the PRGE panel when you and I went out there and we published that. |
| George | Oh, so yeah |
| Jon | Yeah, as a special episode. ah So Mo couldn’t make it out there. We give him a shout out in the panel, but we wasn’t able to make it. However, we did post that special ah panel from PRGE and Steve heard that and dropped a line. It’s very touching. I want share with you. He says, this was a wonderful session. |
| Jon | I loved getting insight into how you guys operate and it was not what I expected. I found you guys in 2018, just after my mom died and her childhood home was sold off and torn down. |
| Mo | jeez. |
| Jon | I was taking long drives with my kid on weeknights to his therapy sessions and needed something fun to keep my mind off everything else. I still remember sitting in a dark parking lot, furious texting an email to you guys about terrible products and comic books or something. |
| Jon | And I was thrilled a few weeks later when you read it on the podcast. |
| Mo | she |
| Jon | It really filled me with joy in an otherwise terrible time in my life. You guys then inspired me to join my brother and start the Vertical Blank podcast going crazy. you then You guys then inspired me to join my brother and start the Vertical Blank Podcast, going to help deal with all of life’s turmoil. I’m a forever fan. |
| Jon | Wow, Steve. |
| Mo | It’s awesome. |
| Jon | How great. Yeah. i’ve I vaguely remember because it was the the ads and comic books episode. And a few weeks later we read an email from someone. I think it was someone who maybe had sent off for the the army men that turned out to be paper cutouts or something. |
| Jon | That might’ve been Steve’s email. |
| Mo | Oh, yeah. |
| Jon | You guys remember that, but yeah, it was, it was a horrifying email. |
| Mo | oh yeah |
| Jon | Somebody got the foot, the box of army men and it was just paper, but Steve, We’re so grateful for you. We’re thankful that we were able to help you out through that period of your life, that our little bit of silliness here on the show brought you some comfort. |
| Jon | And awesome. |
| Mo | Thank you. |
| Jon | I listened to In the Vertical Blank on occasion. You got you and your brother do a nice job, and we’re happy to have you as a fourth listener again this time around. Listen, if you would like your… We certainly thank you for writing in. Listener, if you would like your email featured here on the show, it’s drop dead easy. All you have to do is look, you can leave a comment on the YouTube post if you want, or hit us up at podcast at genxgrownup.com. You know, we read every single one and most of them like Steve’s will eventually make the show. |
| Jon | All right. with That good business behind us. It’s time to jump into the body of episode 203 right after this. |
| Jon | Let’s get the ball rolling. Of course, talking about new media we have been enjoying. Now, you know, this could be television or movies or music or film or comics or whatever you’re enjoying in that realm. And George, i want to start with you. You’ve got something here on the list that I’m looking forward to seeing. Didn’t get to it yet, though. |
| George | Yeah, um you know, it’s it’s the third film in a franchise that I really enjoy. It’s Now You See Me, Now You Don’t. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| George | The first two were Now You See Me and Now You See Me Too, and then this time they decided to complete the phrase, I guess. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | yeah |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| George | um This movie takes the series into a little bit different area. So we do get some people back from the original movie that weren’t in the second film, and they add three new characters to the roster of magicians that are in the main storyline. |
| George | Now, that’s no spoilers. That’s all in the trailers. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| George | um I will say that… As much as I enjoy the Now You See Me franchise, this is the weakest film of the three for me. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. |
| George | um It does get better in the last third, but it’s a little bit of a retread. um it feels like they’re maybe trying they’re kind of running out of ways to do the things that the horsemen do in this series a little bit. |
| George | There is a nice cameo at the end that harkens back to something you thought wasn’t going to be there, and I’m trying to be very careful with how I word this, but it was very, um it wasn’t good, I’ll say. |
| Mo | Did |
| Jon | Tiptoeing around. Yeah. |
| Jon | Hmm. |
| George | If you’re going to do a cameo, I think it could have been done much better with much greater effect at a different part in the story. um |
| Jon | Well, |
| George | But at least there was some… What the… |
| Mo | you lose John? |
| George | John? |
| Jon | yeah, I’m here. I’m here. |
| George | we We just kind of lost you. |
| Jon | Yeah. I saw the internet drop off. Yeah. I saw internet drop off here. |
| George | Yeah. It’s still recording and everything. |
| Jon | Yeah. It, It says it is. Yeah, it looks good. it looks like I just dropped off and back on. So we’re good I missed part of what you’re saying, but I think you’re good. |
| Mo | Okay. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| George | Okay. |
| Jon | Yeah. You said it was not good the way they did the cameo. |
| George | I don’t know where to pick up from. |
| Jon | That’s what I heard. Okay. You’re good. |
| George | All of that to say that it’s still worth watching on streaming services. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| George | I would not pay full price or be happy paying full price to go see this in the theater, and I don’t think it needs it. It’s got a lot of great special effects. They’re almost all in-camera special effects. If you watched any of the stuff after the movie was out, they did all the magic effects as practical effects for the most part. |
| Mo | Oh, okay. |
| George | So that’s good, but |
| Mo | Gotcha. Gotcha. |
| George | At the same time, I don’t think it is necessary to see this on the big screen, and it’s certainly not something to spend a ton of money on. If you have a streaming service that has this available on it, I think that’s the better way to go. |
| Jon | That’s enough. Yeah. Did they, so I remember it was funny that I was surprised that the sequel wasn’t called. Now you see me now you don’t, as you said, and they went to this third one. |
| George | Mm-hmm. Yep. |
| Jon | Is it now that you have seen it, I’m curious, do you feel like it was set up as a finale for a franchise? Cause the way you describe it, it feels like maybe they’ve done enough. |
| Jon | So maybe you don’t need more. Was it set up like an end or was it just kind of left open ended? Like they’re going to keep milking this cow. |
| George | um They can keep milking the cow with the way they ended the film. |
| Jon | You think so? |
| George | That part’s wide open. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| George | Yeah, i mean, not only can they, it’s almost as if they expect to. |
| Jon | Ah, okay. |
| George | um |
| Jon | Oh, |
| George | I don’t know how the film is doing financially. I didn’t look that up or anything, but my guess is that this is one of those film franchises that’s as much an overseas play as it is a domestic play. |
| George | um So while the box office may not do great here in America, there might be a lot of |
| Jon | oh yeah. |
| George | you know, critical downplay for the film. I think it’s probably one of those that does well overseas because of the stars that are in it. And I will say one of my favorite parts of the franchise has always been Woody Harrelson in his portrayal of Merritt McKinney. |
| George | And then in the second one, he played himself and his twin brother, which was funny. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| Mo | she |
| George | But I think that, um I think that they could have definitely done better with this film. There is a nice heartstring tug to the main storyline that comes up in the last 15 minutes. um But you almost kind of see it coming because it does mimic some of the earlier films. |
| Jon | Okay. All right. Well, I do have it queued to watch, so I’ll get around to it, I’m sure. |
| George | Well, I mean, i was watching that and you hadn’t seen it yet. Now you are going to talk about something that |
| Jon | Right. |
| George | I want to watch, but haven’t had a chance to see because I’m going to go watch it when we’re on vacation in Orlando coming up here soon. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Jon | Yeah. Yeah. i you know, and speak of a kind of a not well-executed cameo, this also falls in that same category ah for different reasons. So i’m talking about Tron Ares. I can’t believe… |
| Jon | we didn’t talk about Tron Aries at all when it came out. I think it came out like during the time we were on our ah rewind cycle. And so by the time we got back, there was a hundred more hundred more movies to watch and see and talk about. |
| Mo | some better things to talk about. |
| George | I mean, we we kind of talked about it a little bit. We just didn’t talk about the movie. We talked about my popcorn bucket obsession. |
| Jon | We talked about your popcorn buckets. Of course we did, right. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Jon | Yeah, that’s right. So I wanted to talk about it a little bit because because I continue to see hate for this movie and I didn’t hate this movie. |
| Jon | I’m not a big fan of Jared Leto. I think there are plenty of holes and plot confusion and convoluted stuff in this movie. And it went in directions I didn’t expect it to go. It kind of took Tron legacy and kind of went, yeah, that was nice. Set it aside. |
| Jon | And this was kind of more of a sequel to the original Tron in several ways. |
| George | Uh, |
| Jon | But I kind of want to defend the movie. And i know Mo has seen and you haven’t. So I’m not going to talk about spoilers. I talked about it with Will a bit over on 1980s now when it first came out because it was actually a week when the cat was out. |
| Jon | so that’s all we talked about was that we kind of dug into this. |
| Mo | Mm-hmm. |
| Jon | And what’s interesting is they do stuff in Tron that I always kind of wanted, ah Tron Aries, that I always kind of wanted to see. Like, like what is… |
| Jon | what is water like in the world of Tron? You know, we kind of saw a little bit in the first Tron, it was just kind of, we didn’t swim in it or anything, right? We didn’t get in the water. And like, it it expands the universe in a way like, oh, different computers look different inside. |
| Jon | The Tron we knew, the grid that we’re aware of, was one kind of computer. we go into other grids and we’re like, oh, really neat. |
| George | Ah. |
| Jon | And ah yeah i do not want to give anything away that we haven’t seen in the trailer. We get to see some of that original grid. I’ll say that. That’s that’s all I’ll say. |
| George | OK. |
| Jon | But but the the the the cameo was spoiled because Jeff Bridges went on TV and spilled the beans that he was in the movie. And they had to kind of quickly put him into the promotional material. |
| Mo | Right. |
| Jon | ah So it was not a surprise. |
| George | Right. |
| Jon | And he was so the dude in his cameo. He was barely a Tron character. |
| Mo | Oh, yeah. |
| Jon | Now he was kind of a he was like a a an Obi-Wan Kenobi or a Yoda kind of like, Oh, I can help you with the way and teach you what they need to do kind of thing. It was, it was quite small, but that was of all the things people talk about in this movie that he didn’t like, and they didn’t like the tone or the direction of things. |
| Jon | I don’t agree with those. actually saw it in the IMAX 3D. |
| Mo | Oh. |
| Jon | And I would not have seen it IMAX 3D if there were another way to see it that night, but there wasn’t. |
| George | Oh. |
| Jon | So I saw the IMAX 3D and damn, it was good. |
| Mo | Okay. |
| Jon | I couldn’t believe how far 3D had come since I had seen it. ah The last time I saw it was probably ah maybe a remake of, or a 3D-ification of Nightmare Before Christmas. And it was kind of so-so. |
| George | I thought you were going to say Jaws 3D. I was like, damn, that’d be old. |
| Mo | Yeah, I |
| Jon | that but That was a blue red 3D movie, I think. |
| George | ah |
| Jon | ah I thought the soundtrack was phenomenal. I thought it was probably everybody says is kind of the best part of it. And I actually enjoyed the story, though it was a bit. Hmm. |
| Jon | Oddly formulaic, like you can see every beat coming, but not in a way that made me mad. Well, was your experience similar to mine or did you dislike it? Or I know a lot of people did like it. |
| Mo | No, I didn’t hate it. I didn’t hate it for sure. |
| Jon | Yeah. OK. |
| Mo | I i enjoyed it. |
| Jon | Mm |
| Mo | I think it had some parts in it that I thought were just super cool that I was looking forward to. Like, again, this is in the trailer. |
| Jon | hmm. |
| Mo | Light cycles in the real world. |
| Jon | Right. |
| Mo | You know, very cool in the real world. |
| Jon | Recognizer in the real world. Yeah. yeah |
| Mo | Very, very cool. You know, um I thought the Jeff Bridges thing was just like, like you said, I wasn’t sure why he was there. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | Like, I don’t I think he could have not been there and the movie would have just continued on just fine. |
| Jon | m |
| Mo | You know, um you know, |
| Jon | Yeah. He doesn’t hurt it, but you didn’t have to have him. |
| Mo | Yeah, it doesn’t hurt, but it doesn’t add anything either. |
| Jon | Yeah. Yeah. I agree. |
| Mo | It’s just sort of there. You see him come in, you’re like, oh you know, and then the explanation about why he’s there still, even though he died in the last movie and but blah, blah, blah. |
| Jon | Yeah. I knew this was coming. Right. Mm hmm. |
| Mo | It’s just kind of crazy. But ah the special effects I thought were very cool. |
| Jon | Tremendous, yeah. |
| Mo | I, know, I thought the, you know, it had the effects that I wish they had back in 85 when they first did the movie, you know. |
| Jon | ah Yeah. |
| George | yeah I think both of the sequels have done that, though. |
| Mo | Yeah, you know, because the stuff just looked phenomenal, you know. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | But he said a little formulaic, but, you know, said I enjoyed it. It’s not what I’m going to go back to again and again necessarily, but I enjoyed seeing it. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | i don’t feel bad that I saw it. |
| Jon | And before I, before I, okay, you go ahead and do it. I’ll do a more thing. |
| George | The fact that you’re not going to go back and see this one again, Mo, kind of, to me, sets it aside from Legacy, because I do rewatch Legacy somewhat often, probably once a year, um because I really enjoy what they did with the storyline from the first movie to this one. |
| Jon | o |
| George | And I was one of the people who count myself disappointed that the Legacy storyline didn’t continue into this one. |
| Jon | Right. |
| George | and um I’ve been trying to be very careful. |
| Jon | Bigger. |
| George | I haven’t seen it yet, but I’ve tried not to let myself slip into that thing I did with Battlestar Galactica when the BSG reboot remake thing came out, and I was like, oh, that’s not my Battlestar. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| George | I’m not going to watch that bullshit, but It’s hard for me not to feel that way when, A, you don’t it continue a storyline that I enjoyed, and B, you put Jared Leto in stuff, which, I’m sorry, that guy just needs to stop acting in films. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| George | let it Go do theater or something else, but Jesus Christ, that man is ruining almost everything that I want to enjoy at this point. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| George | Like, comic book movies, now Tron, Ares, I don’t know. |
| Mo | he |
| George | Maybe he was good in this. You guys have seen it. I haven’t, but, gee, I… I feel like that they, they made a big, I don’t know why, why don’t you continue the legacy storyline? |
| George | It wasn’t that bad of a failure. |
| Jon | I, yeah. |
| George | I don’t thought, I mean, |
| Mo | No. Well, yeah, I’ll say this was George. |
| Jon | Yeah. On the Jared Leto front, I will, real quickly, just on the Jared Leto. On the Jared Leto front, I will say that I always thought he was kind of wooden and stiff as an actor. And as our computer program, that’s what he needed to be. So it kind of worked out. |
| Jon | Right. |
| George | so it was typecasting. All right. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | Well, also, he was executive producer um of the the movie. |
| George | Of course he was. |
| Mo | So that’s, you know, so but and George, I mean, don’t know if this helps or doesn’t help. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | The previous movie legacy still happened in this world. This is just a separate story. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. Yeah. |
| George | Okay. |
| Mo | So so they can come back to it. So it’s possible that they can come back to it in the future. |
| Jon | Right. They didn’t undo anything. |
| George | Well, and that’s good. |
| Jon | They just ignored it for the large part until the very end. |
| Mo | Right. Right. |
| George | i mean, i don’t see them coming back because the two main protagonists that came out of Legacy, they’re, as human beings, I don’t think they would go back to those roles now. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| George | Like the one guy who played um Flynn’s son, he’s on the really popular Tulsa King show with Sylvester Stallone now. |
| Mo | Mm hmm. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | Oh, is that him? |
| Jon | Yep. |
| George | So… Yeah, he’s the bread-to-buck owner, the guy who owns the bar. |
| Mo | Oh, wow. |
| Jon | Yeah, the bar owner. |
| George | Yeah, it doesn’t look anything like… |
| Mo | Do you recognize him? |
| Jon | yeah |
| Mo | Yeah. Holy cow. |
| George | But um I don’t know. i I’m going to watch it anyway. The family wants to watch it. We have it on streaming, so we’re going to see it. but But I’m just nervous. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | Yeah, it’s fine. |
| Jon | I’ll give you a hot take that will be a little controversial, probably for, I would say for you, George, i was going to realize for everyone, for Mo, everyone. The original Tron, I enjoy to a point, but it’s a little, it’s pacing and its effects, of course, are a little dated today. |
| Jon | So I can’t enjoy it as much as I probably did back then. |
| George | Sure. |
| Jon | Tron Aries, tremendous looking and sounding. The story, not as solid, maybe. |
| George | Hmm. |
| Jon | So I think I would actually rank… The original Tron and Ares, even in my terms of enjoyment, even in my terms of enjoyment with Legacy just below them, because I never really enjoyed that one that much. |
| George | Hmm. |
| Mo | Hmm. Oh. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| George | Oh, wow. Oh, we’re we’re definitely in different camps because I almost enjoyed Legacy a little bit better than the original. |
| Jon | Yeah. Not to say any of them are bad. yeah Definitely. More than, yeah. So you might put it above and you might rank the other the two together. But so your your mileage may vary. |
| George | Wow. |
| Jon | Of course, I look forward to hearing once you get a chance to see it, what you think. But I did want to at least defend it here on the show at one point, because it’s almost like we didn’t talk about it means we super hated it and didn’t want to give it any airtime, which is not the case. |
| Jon | We just didn’t get to it. So. All right. So, ah Mo, what about you? have you been watching, man? |
| Mo | Yes. So I’ve been watching a new series ah called Welcome to Dairy. And you guys heard of this one? |
| Jon | Hmm. |
| George | Oh, yeah, it’s it’s waiting chambered. |
| Mo | Oh, |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| George | I’m waiting till all the episodes come out before I can binge them. |
| Mo | but they’re out. They’re all out. They’re all out. |
| George | They’re all out now? Okay, good. |
| Mo | They’re all out. ah We binged this thing probably a week. We just watched the whole thing. And we… |
| George | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | and Luckily, we timed it that when we finished, the last episode came out. So we’re yes, and we can watch it. |
| George | ah |
| Mo | like is then That was just pure luck. That was just pure luck. So basically, it’s about the town of Derry from the world of Stephen King of It. And we all know Derry from the many incarnations of It that have come out. |
| Mo | Except this is the one that takes place 26 years before the first It incident in the book. |
| Jon | okay |
| Mo | cause you know, they come in cycles of 26 years, I think it was, right? |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. |
| George | Okay. |
| Mo | You know? So this is the one from before that. And kind of like the town. And it’s… I’ll say one thing about this. This show actually did things that I was like, holy crap. Like, it app surprised me. |
| Mo | Like, I was surprised. Like, there were sequences, where and I won’t give anything away, but there are sequences I was like, okay, this is going to be one of those, like… I had a nightmare things or whatever. And you’re like, Oh no, that happened. |
| Mo | Like you’re like, Oh, okay. You know, let let’s, let’s, let’s, but okay, let’s move on. |
| George | So no Bobby from Dallas coming out of the shower scenarios then. |
| Mo | Yeah. You know? Yeah. No Bobby coming me out of the shower. And so it was, it has a whole bunch of, people who are well-known actors that if you didn’t see, ah I won’t say they’re really like a list necessarily, but they’re all like solid people that you’ve seen probably a million times in other movies and other roles. Yeah. |
| Mo | And the story kind of does does take a little bit of a twist where basically there’s a person who’s actually trying to find Pennyworth. you know, I’m sorry, Pennywise. |
| Jon | Pennywise. |
| Mo | Excuse me. He’s trying to find Pennywise. um And they’re trying to actively trying to find him because they know about this thing that’s going on. So that’s kind of like this whole thing. Like somebody’s looking for him. of course, he’s going around doing his usual stuff. |
| Jon | Like somebody actually wants to find him. |
| Mo | Yes. |
| Jon | That’s a new… |
| George | yeah |
| Mo | And, and of course, you know, there’s the whole thing where he’s doing what Pennywise does and, you know, gets the kids, um you know, is doing like he normally does, but, and they tried to explain a little bit about where his origins were. That part I was like, eh, but I was willing to go with it because the rest of it was so good. |
| Mo | um But yeah, it was, I hope they do a second season because they left enough to do some more of this. |
| George | Oh. |
| Jon | I watched the first episode of this new series and there was plenty of crazy stuff with like a like a ah crazy creepy baby in a car flying around and |
| Mo | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | Oh, |
| Jon | But the show in the first episode did not grab my attention to the point I have not gone back to watch the second episode. So I don’t want you to talk me in or out of it, but someone in my case who watched the first episode and went, ne is the rest more of the same? |
| Mo | okay. Right. |
| Jon | Does it go in a certain direction? |
| Mo | No, it’s, |
| Jon | does it How does it change as it goes through the series? it was like eight or ten episodes, right? |
| Mo | Yeah, I think the first episode, honestly, I think just sort of is a a shock setup episode, quite honestly. Like, I think they wanted to kind of get you to the right mindset. Like, so and for people know, obviously, a kid incident happens the first episode, not like a big secret. |
| Jon | Yeah, right. |
| Mo | Right. But it’s weird. And they do lots of weird stuff in this. But then it goes into basically that kid disappears and the people who are looking for him, his friends in school, you know, who are trying to figure out where he went and what happened to him. |
| Jon | So the rest of the series is more a reaction to that first episode and what happened in it. And it starts the story then. Is that what I’m hearing? |
| Mo | Right, because he’s basically he would be he’s the first of that cycle. |
| Jon | so Okay. So I really didn’t see that part of the story begin if I only saw the first episode. |
| Mo | Right. |
| Jon | all right. |
| Mo | Yeah. You didn’t see the the aftermath of that. |
| Jon | I owe it one more episode, maybe. |
| Mo | So it’s definitely worth it. |
| Jon | Interesting. |
| Mo | I think it was, it was, it was, I thought it was very well done, very well acted. |
| Jon | Okay. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. Okay. |
| Mo | They do a lot of really kind of like nods to Stephen King in this. |
| Jon | That’s good. |
| Mo | They talk about Shawshank. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | Like it comes up in a conversation like, Oh, Shawshank prison, and you know, and, and little things like that, like pop up here and there, like just little like nuggets. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| George | Huh. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | If you’re a big fan, you would definitely pick up on it, you know? |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | And it was, and it ends, like said, it ends, know, as a very big climatic ending. And they said they kind of set it up so that they could do more stories. Like they could go back another 26 years if they wanted to and do a series about that. |
| Jon | Right. |
| Mo | What happened then? |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | and and kind of keep going back because every single incident is different of kind of like what happens and where he comes from. But they go into his origin story some, they kind of where he comes from and all that kind of stuff as well. |
| Mo | ah But a little bit. |
| George | They kind of did that in the movies too a little bit. They they showed some of his origin stuff there. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. Great. Yeah. |
| Mo | Yeah, this one, they definitely took a little bit, little bit, Deeper, I would say, you know, and again, like, yeah. |
| George | Okay. |
| Jon | Yeah. they got a lot more time, right? You have like eight or 10 hours to do this. So. |
| Mo | and And luckily they did leave a lot still open ended, which I’m happy because, you know, I think the biggest problem is they explain too much and then it’s like, OK, this is just stupid at that point, you know. |
| Jon | All |
| Jon | right. |
| Mo | But. |
| Jon | I’ll give it a chance. I think one more episode. |
| Mo | I think it’s worth it. |
| Jon | i can afford one more episode, right? |
| Mo | OK. |
| Jon | like I can handle that. |
| George | I just, so here you talk about it and I haven’t watched them either. Like i said, I’m waiting for them to binge, but would you say Moe that they’re doing a better job at keeping the villain solid and scary than say they did with the, Nightmare on Elm Street series where Freddie just kind of went comical after like three or four of those films? |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Mo | No, this one is um that he he was pretty. He’s playing some serious mind games in this one with kids, you know, and I guess the previous it sounds like. |
| George | Okay. |
| George | So they’re keeping him serious the whole way through, which is good because with Nightmare on Elm Street, when you start getting into, what, the 5th and 6th, and now he’s battling fluffies or what the fuck ever is going to happen in the next… |
| Mo | some like |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| Mo | Oh, yeah. is This is ridiculous. |
| Mo | Yeah. Jason in space or whatever. |
| George | you You just, at some point, you’re like, okay, this is enough. |
| Mo | Hmm. |
| Jon | right |
| George | I don’t ruin what I enjoyed so much, but it sounds like, at least if you’re a fan of the original story from the books and the movies, it feels like that there’re they’re paying respect to the character. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | Yes, absolutely. They, they, yeah. |
| George | Okay, good. |
| Mo | Like, and they don’t undo anything you’ve seen in other, you’ve read the books or saw the TV show, they don’t undo any of that. Like, it all still happens way it happens. This is just what happened 26 years, the last time he came around, you know? |
| Jon | Because it George, no Jared Leto. |
| George | And no Jared Leto. |
| Mo | I’m sorry. No, Jared Leto. um |
| George | um |
| Mo | It did have Skarsgård, I guess, the guy who played Pennywise in the in the series. |
| Jon | That helps. Oh yeah. |
| George | Yeah, yeah. |
| Jon | Continue to be. |
| Mo | He’s in this. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | So he’s in this, too, as well. I think he’s actually one of the producers as well. And the one thing I guess they did a little bit. Well, i guess this was in the book, too, is like, you know, the kids kind of figure out what’s going on. And then that’s when he starts screwing with them. |
| Jon | Mm. Mm. |
| Mo | you know, so they kind of know what’s happening. |
| George | Mm-hmm. |
| Jon | Sure. |
| Mo | So that there’s a kind of a tension with these kids, like do the whole thing that. They know what’s happening, kind of. Not completely, but they know something bad’s out there, and they’re just reacting to it. So, definitely I think it’s definitely worth another episode at least, John. |
| Jon | All right. |
| Mo | I think it it goes… |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | it we just Like I said, we went through the whole thing, and we were pretty excited. Okay. |
| Jon | Well, between the two of you, George hadn’t even seen it and he helped to talk me into watching more. |
| Mo | Okay. |
| Jon | So he’s, well, it’s good job, George. |
| Mo | So I’m going to kick off Tekken Toys this week with something that was actually, i thought it was pretty cool little thing. It’s on Amazon. It’s an electric arc lighter. You may ask, what the hell is an electric arc lighter? |
| George | Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | It’s a little, it looks like a pen, except you push it and it does little electric charge at the end. They use like candles, start fires. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | And it’s like little, basically it looks like a little taser, quite honestly, because you see the whole charge go through it. It’s USB-C rechargeable. So you can totally recharge it. It’s windproof because it’s just electric. So you can do these outside as well. |
| Mo | And the best part is like, it was relatively inexpensive. I mean, the thing, I think it was like 17 bucks for it. um It comes in different colors, you know, and I don’t like we have, we have so many freaking kids and grandkids that we have a birthday party here, like constantly. And, and so having something that you could go to and light them very easily. |
| Mo | Because the whole match thing, you’re like, you know matches always seem to run out before it says to you when the kids get older. or If you’re trying to do mine, it’s just impossible. And it’s just too many to do. |
| Jon | That’s a lot of but say a lot of candles, Mo. |
| Mo | um But yeah, actually, yeah, probably would. |
| Jon | The fire alarm goes off when they light your candles on your cake. |
| Mo | But like I said, and it’s it’s just a neat little handy thing that you can keep in the kitchen drawer that I can’t, I think it’s worth, especially a stocking stuff or something like that you want to give somebody. |
| Jon | you you you I was going to ask you what it was you were lighting so much that you needed a permanent rechargeable lighter. ah thought maybe you were, you know, every time 420 rolled around, you needed your little rechargeable lighter or something. |
| Mo | Well, that too, but that’s… |
| Jon | I didn’t know what it was. ah but But okay, so lighting candles I can see spot on a cake or otherwise, like decorative candles and stuff like that. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| Jon | I wonder… |
| George | It’s good in a disaster scenario too. |
| Jon | I could see that too. I could see that too. |
| Mo | Mm-hmm. |
| George | Yep. |
| Jon | How strong is it? Is it something? so The only thing I typically light is, you know, three times a year when it gets cold enough in Florida, I light up the fireplace. Is the little spark, is you you describe it like it’s an ink pen. |
| Mo | Mm-hmm. |
| Jon | Like, could you use it to light some kindling in a fireplace? Cause it’s not an actual flame or. |
| Mo | I mean, if you like like normal Kindle that you start with like paper and all that stuff, it’ll definitely catch the paper on fire. Absolutely. |
| Jon | It would. Okay. Interesting. |
| Mo | You know, um it’s. |
| Jon | Okay. |
| George | Yeah, it’s it’s not a pin. There’s two prongs at the end of it that an electric arc goes between. |
| Jon | and fruit Yeah, it’s like a Jacob’s Ladder, like a zip between them, right, kind of thing. |
| Mo | Right. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Mo | Yep, exactly. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Jon | Okay. |
| George | Because we have we’ve had one for about like 10 years. |
| Jon | All right. |
| Mo | Oh, OK. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Jon | Because we do have a box of matches that are slowly going bad over time. |
| George | They’re handy. they’re handy |
| Jon | They’re like, nope, that one’s wet. Nope, that one’s wet. Nope, that one. |
| George | ah |
| Jon | Well, here’s one that worked, you know? So, yeah. |
| Mo | Yeah. and And this is also one of those things is like, you know, I quit smoking, but like 15, 20 years ago. Back then it was easy because I always had a light. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | Yeah. So when these situations, party situations came up, it’s like, oh, got candles. |
| Jon | I know. |
| Mo | on my Here’s my lighter. um Now these days, though, and nobody in the family smokes. |
| Jon | Let me buy a gadget. Yeah. |
| Mo | So it’s always like a little bit more of a go through the kitchen drawer, you know, trying to find the the the last book of matches or the lighter that’s out of butane. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Jon | Looking for sure. |
| George | Yeah, i don’t |
| George | I don’t think about ours until November rolls around. And then I have, between November 12th and January 3rd, I have five birthdays to deal with. |
| Mo | Yep. |
| George | So that’s when it really hits strong with us. |
| Jon | Oh, wow. |
| Jon | who |
| George | And I’m like, oh, thank God we still have this thing. |
| Mo | Yeah, it’s ah it’s handy and it’s pretty useful. |
| Jon | That’s cool. |
| Mo | So that’s what I got. So I’m sure George has something more exciting than that to talk about. |
| George | Oh, hell no. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| George | No. oh |
| Mo | ah |
| Jon | Well, let’s not be hasty. |
| George | I did… |
| Jon | i told you before the show, I’m super interested in what you got. So I’m ready. |
| George | ah you You did, and we’ll so we’ll see. um it |
| Jon | You’re like, but you’re boring, John. So what are you going to do with that |
| George | Well, I mean, you you did originally bring the seat washer to the toilet for us, so I’m not going to say that we’re all the exciting bunch at this point in our lives. |
| Jon | that? |
| Mo | This is true. |
| Jon | All right. That’s fair. |
| George | But yeah, no, it’s… |
| Jon | Okay. |
| George | um ah So I, I have a lot of dust in the house and I’m often needing to like just clean things off like my keyboard and different stuff. |
| George | Cause I eat a bunch of candy and snacks and cookies while I’m working and stuff. So there’s crumbs everywhere. And i needed to, ah I forgot what it was I needed to dust. |
| George | I needed to blow some dust off something. I’m like, oh crap, I need to go get an air can. I went got my air can that I’ve had forever from Office Depot and and it nothing. |
| Mo | Yeah, |
| Jon | Mm hmm. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| George | Like there was no more air. |
| Jon | Ran out. Yeah. |
| George | And like, all right, let me go look at compressed air. And I’m looking at compressed air cans on Amazon. And they’re like, they only sell them in a three pack and it’s like $40 or some bullshit. |
| Mo | i know yeah |
| George | like, what the hell is this about? |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| George | Is there now an air lobby against air cans, like tobacco lobby is against tobacco or something, and they’ve jacked up the price? I don’t know what’s happening. so I had been seeing on a lot of the YouTube um DIY and comparison video channels that I watch people talking about these electric air dusters. |
| George | And I’ve always wanted him one. |
| Jon | Mm. |
| George | i’m like, but then I go and look at them and they they have these big price ranges. And I’m never sure if I’m going to get one that actually works well or not. So… I finally found this video from this channel that I really trust because the guy does a lot of pseudoscientific testing. Like he takes 10 or 12 products and he puts them through bunch of tests that are ah repeatable and measurable and then he puts them in a chart and tells you you know based on all these ratings which one is best and this wolf box electric air duster came up by far the winner out of his group of like 10 or 15 air dusters that he had i got it and i’m gonna tell you it will hurt you it’s |
| Jon | Hmm. |
| Mo | Okay. |
| Jon | but |
| Mo | It blows that hard. |
| George | Yes. Even without the specialized nozzles to direct the air in one form or another, like just out of the regular part of it. like it has three settings. So setting one, you, you turn the thing on and you press it and you let go of the trigger and it just keeps blowing on setting one. And it’s a pretty strong setting. It’ll knock crumbs off your keyboard setting two, same thing. You press the trigger, let go, and it’ll, you know, blast even more, you know, papers will go flying. |
| George | Setting three is so strong that they have built into the device. You have to keep holding the trigger or it won’t function. |
| Mo | ah It’s too dangerous to leave on its own. |
| George | Because they want to have a safety valve in this thing. |
| Jon | Like a dead man switch on the air blower, man. |
| Mo | ah |
| George | It’s right. |
| George | It works flawlessly. USB-C charge rechargeable. um It’s a really nice system. It’s got a whole bunch of the different, like I said, the different air flowing tips to, you know, like if you want a flat airflow or pointed one or whatever. And there are videos on Amazon and on some of the other Amazon or sorry, YouTube channels that I watch where people are using it almost like a leaf blower outside. |
| Mo | Oh, geez. |
| Jon | Huh. |
| George | It’s that strong. |
| Mo | Wow. |
| Jon | Okay. Now that you’ve used this and you’ve really hyped it up, you make me like it. ah Remember back to when your office Depot can of air was working. |
| George | Hmm. |
| Jon | I have, I have always been dubious that these rechargeable things actually can blow as hard as those. So if you compared it to a brand new fresh can of compressed air On a scale of, you know, 100% to ah above or below, how how how much pressure does this rechargeable one have compared to a can there? |
| George | So it’s a little different thought. |
| Jon | Okay. |
| George | So the pressure is probably pretty close to the number two setting on the rechargeable one from an air can. |
| Jon | Hmm. |
| George | So air can to the rechargeable, the rechargeable number two and the air can are about the same. |
| Jon | Okay. |
| Mo | Oh, it’s not even the full one. |
| Jon | Oh, really? |
| George | Right. |
| Jon | Okay. |
| George | Yeah, not even the volume three, but it’s the air volume is hugely better on this rechargeable device than it is on the air can. |
| Jon | Oh, I see. |
| Mo | Oh, it’s not this point air anymore. |
| George | Because the air can just got that little bitty, you know, point. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| George | And, you know like even they have that little red tube, like the WD-40 kind of can thing that focuses it even more. |
| Mo | Mm-hmm. |
| George | So if you want to blow out like your keyboard, as an example, with an air can, you’re spending some time doing that. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| George | With this Wolfbox electric air duster, it’s over in like three seconds. It’s done. it It just blows your whole keyboard completely out. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| George | I’ve been very, very impressed because it’s not just how strong it is, but it’s how much air it puts out. |
| Jon | Wow. |
| Jon | wonder if it’s too late to put that on my Christmas list. |
| Mo | Okay. Yeah. |
| George | Yeah, I got it on ah Black Friday for like 50 bucks. It’s back up to 80 now. It’s not cheap. Mm-hmm. |
| Jon | Yeah. But yeah. But it’s forever, right? You just stop buying air cans. That’s the thing that makes it attractive. Yeah. Well, damn it, George. |
| George | Yeah, I mean, can ah well considering i was going to get like three air cans for like $40… |
| Jon | Damn it. |
| Jon | Right, right. |
| George | And this thing for me at that time was like $10 more. And I’m like, well, that makes total sense. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. Yeah. |
| George | I’m not going to waste my money on something that’s going to go bad sitting in a drawer. |
| Jon | Yep. |
| George | or This thing, yeah, it just worked. |
| Jon | All right. |
| George | And you can use it for a lot of other things, not just dusting, but it’s useful for like if you’re blowing up pool toys out at, you know, when you’re outside at your swimming pool or at the beach or something like that. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| George | It has all those applications that you might think of a regular air pump as well because of the different nozzles and attachments. It’s not designed as an air pump. but it has that ability. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | Okay. |
| Jon | It just occurred to me. You guys could put these together. Mo could light the candles and you could blow them out. |
| George | I could. |
| Mo | Exactly. |
| Jon | In tandem. |
| George | from across From across the city, I could blow them out. |
| Jon | ah |
| Mo | I was just watching the video on Amazon. They have a guy like at a campfire. and He’s using this to blow air on the fire to make it go hotter. |
| George | who |
| Jon | Oh, to to like give it more oxygen. |
| George | Yeah, to stoke it. |
| Jon | Oh, yeah, I can see. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| George | yeah Yeah, there you go. |
| Mo | Interesting. |
| Jon | I want one. |
| Mo | Yeah, I spent… |
| Jon | I want one. |
| Mo | That’s $100 never see again. |
| Jon | I know. right yeah Damn it. |
| Mo | ah |
| George | Let’s see if John can’t make both of us spend a little bit more money. John, you talked about having ah something that would evoke memories of a fun thing for Christmas or something at the beginning of the episode. |
| Jon | I’d love to. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | Arcade something? |
| Jon | Yeah. So for a long time, as long as they’ve been available and it’s been off and on over the years, I’ve been a regular collector of the Hallmark Christmas ornaments that are arcade machines. |
| Mo | right. Oh, yes. Oh. |
| George | Hmm. Hmm. |
| Jon | So now initially I missed Pac-Man. It came and went, I have since gone back and got a Pac-Man. And then there was a donkey Kong and a, let’s see, joust and defender. I like there’s one more. |
| Jon | Sorry. is there a Galaga? I’m not sure. Maybe there’s a Galaga. I can’t remember. Anyway, I like i can’t remember. |
| George | Damn it. Don’t tell me that. |
| Jon | There might be anyway, there four or five of them already and they haven’t done one in several years. And, uh, ah A couple few months ago, back before the holidays began, I stumbled across and searching, you know, get in a rabbit hole of looking for something. I was looking at a game and I found out they were coming back with a new one. |
| Jon | And this hits on multiple things that I’m a fan of. First, it’s another arcade machine ornament. It’s part of their light and sound collection because it lights up and has sound. It’s an arcade machine. |
| Jon | It’s a sit down arcade machine. It’s the sit down arcade machine for Star Trek strategic operations simulator. |
| George | And I know you collected all the hell out of those Star Trek ornaments for years. |
| Jon | And |
| Mo | Oh my god. |
| Jon | yes. So now I have Star Trek ornaments and I have arcade ornaments and now I have a combo Star Trek arcade ornament. |
| George | Hmm. |
| Mo | That brings it all together. |
| George | Hmm. Hmm. |
| Mo | Yeah. Okay. Oh, my God. |
| Jon | It’s all together. |
| Mo | Okay, that’s pretty |
| Jon | So I have it here. Now, you guys can see it. You can’t hear on the podcast, but you’ll be able to hear it if I push the button. So let me see where the speaker is. Check this out. It’s going to bring back memories. |
| Mo | cool. |
| Jon | He’s a captain of the Starship Enterprise. Welcome aboard, Captain. |
| Mo | oh so my god |
| Mo | okay that’s pretty cool |
| George | Yep. |
| Jon | Entering center 1.2. |
| Jon | What a sample on that thing, man. It goes for a while, and just hearing all those sounds, man, of that vector game. Yeah. |
| Mo | So you said that, so you know like the ornaments, like there’s Hallmark ornaments, right? Those are standards. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | Is there a company that makes, specifically makes these, that they come out with these series, or is it just different companies kind of putting these out? |
| Jon | No, it’s Hallmark themselves. |
| Mo | Oh, this is a Hallmark. |
| Jon | It’s first party. |
| Mo | This is a Hallmark ornament. |
| Jon | yeah These are, that’s right, first party Hallmark ornaments. |
| Mo | ah Oh. |
| Jon | They come a little red box or gold box, depending. It’s got the little hook. Remember, it used to be you had to… plug them into a string of lights. You had unplug one of the bulbs and plug it in. |
| Mo | Right. |
| Jon | Well, now they just have just have button batteries on them. |
| George | Right, yeah. |
| Jon | And I just bought a card of like 40 new button batteries because had to re-battery all my arcade machines. But this is like the others. takes three batteries it’s got that long sample. And what you couldn’t see, of course, when we’re listening, is it all there’s a screen that lights up and shows a screen. |
| Mo | Nice. Oh, yeah. Mm-hmm. |
| Jon | It’s a static image which shows from the game. |
| Mo | nice |
| George | I see a lot of these ornaments and people are spending crazy money and on the aftermarket on eBay, it’s even worse, of course. |
| Jon | m |
| George | But I’m just wondering, are we at the point now? Cause John, you’ve been an avid collector of ornaments and we used to have a tradition in our family where, every Christmas each person in the family got one new ornament and they all got added to the tree. |
| George | Well, we’ve realized very quickly there were not enough branches to keep doing that forever. |
| Jon | Yeah, right. |
| George | um So are we at the point where now we have to have multiple Christmas trees and now they have to be themed to specific ornaments in order to really enjoy these collections? |
| Mo | ah |
| Jon | ah |
| Mo | Themed. theed |
| George | Or are they just going to be like things that you put up on a shelf somewhere like eye candy kind of stuff? Well, At some point, where’s the madness in? |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| George | I feel like that lady who did the diet stuff back in the 90s. Where? Stop the madness. |
| Jon | Yeah. You know, I’ll tell you, I can’t tell you the answer. It’s different from everyone. I know some people do multiple trees. Some people do a gaming tree and a Star Wars tree and whatever. |
| George | Wow. |
| Jon | We do a tree and we have more ornaments like you, more ornaments than you need for four full families, right? |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| Jon | We have too many. So really we just put up whatever information, you know kind of So that way every year it’s a little bit different tree. you know maybe maybe Maybe we’ll buy one or two more and this year we’ll put those up. And which ones? We don’t put every ornament we have, every Star Trek ornament, every talking ornament. We just kind of go, oh, I think we’ll do a couple of these. And there there are some ornaments that are you know, they’re sentimental and you’re going to on every tree. |
| Jon | you know, this one that commemorates this or this baby’s first, whatever. |
| George | Sure. |
| Mo | yeah |
| Jon | But then beyond that, it’s just whatever kind of tickles us when we’re putting up the tree. Like, oh, let’s try a bunch of these. Let’s put up a lot of these green and red balls instead of the other things. So I would never put up multiple trees. |
| Jon | It’s enough work to put up one tree and get it up and down out of the attic and all that stuff. |
| Mo | Oh, yeah. and And take it down later. |
| Jon | But |
| Mo | yeah. |
| Jon | ah But to your point, this makes a great shelf decoration in addition to being a tree ornament, just like those arcade machines. So it kind of does double duty. It’s not just a one time of the year. |
| Jon | It’s something you can enjoy all the time. And i can push this button and make it make noise again anytime I want to. |
| Mo | Looks good. |
| Jon | ah just I did a really good job on it. just remember You remember sitting in this machine? Remember that thing, how nice it was? |
| George | Oh, yeah. |
| Jon | Oh, yeah, love it. |
| Mo | oh yeah that’s good |
| George | I mean, I don’t remember sitting in that one because I was too big, but. |
| Jon | no no No, you would never have fit in this one. |
| Mo | ah |
| Jon | Right. In one like it. |
| George | All right, guys, I think this might be the last game segment of the year for the Gen X Grown Up podcast, if I’m not mistaken, because this is going to release on Christmas Day of all days. |
| Mo | yeah |
| Jon | Oh, ah you’re right. You’re right. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| George | And i thought it would be appropriate if we gifted our listeners with one final round of all three of us talking about games that we’re playing. And lo and behold, we filled out the card just right. |
| Jon | Oh, yeah. Mm-hmm. ah |
| George | Mo, why don’t we start with you? What have you been playing since the last time we talked? |
| Mo | Sure. um So I’m a big fan of a game called XCOM 2. |
| Jon | oh yeah |
| Mo | Love that game. |
| George | m Yeah. |
| Mo | Love the game. And of course, that came out years and years years ago. And I have been on the search for ah similar game that kind of scratched that itch. You know, the tactical, real, know, turn-based, um you know so you control individual people and all that stuff. |
| Mo | And so Steam was having their winter sale. you know And they had a game called Capes, C-A-P-E-S, and it was half off, so I paid sort of 20 bucks. And everyone said it’s like the successor to XCOM 2 worthy successor. us So I was like, all right, I’m going to buy it. |
| Mo | And yes, it’s superhero. |
| Jon | It’s like superhero-y. Is that what I? i say Okay. |
| Mo | So it’s the same. |
| Jon | All right. |
| Mo | So it’s a similar style game, except it’s with superheroes. And the basic premise is that the villains won in this world. And so there’s the the few superheroes who are left are kind of banding together to like fight back sort of, but everything’s run by villains essentially at this point. |
| Jon | Hmm. |
| George | Right. |
| Mo | And it’s a, how should put it? It’s a good game, but not as good as XCOM 2. Like it, it, it doesn’t have that like, |
| George | ah |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | you know, you know, dinner’s ready. I’m like in a minute factor, you know, it doesn’t have that like dinner’s ready. |
| Jon | Oh, yeah. |
| Mo | Okay. Pause. I’m going to go eat. You know, it’s, it’s not going to like keep me from eating or anything like that. |
| Jon | Okay, yeah. |
| Mo | It’s not a bad game. And this one, though, you’re actually playing superheroes, obviously, people with superpowers, which adds an interesting dimension to it, that each person has individual powers. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | And then when you get them together in teams, they have combined things they could do, which, like, there’s a person who could teleport and somebody else who can, you know, do telekinesis or something like that. But when they’re together, they have a special action they could do where… |
| Mo | That will teleport the other person someplace and have them do something and teleport them back and that kind of stuff, like a little teamwork kind of stuff, which is interesting. |
| George | Right. |
| Jon | Got it. |
| Mo | the it It just got very repetitious, though, very quickly, because the variety of the people you fight is very one-dimensional. you know It’s like there’s just random thugs that come out. |
| Mo | you know And they’re all pretty much the same. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | you know And then they have like a one boss-level, harder-to-kill person or who’s like a superpower or something like that. But it’s one of these games that you feel like if you just grind, you’ll beat it. |
| Mo | like You don’t have to think too much to actually try to beat it, if that makes sense. |
| Jon | but Probably the the part you like most about XCOM 2, the thinking, the working working around the puzzles. |
| Mo | Yeah, |
| Mo | yeah exactly. The thinking part. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | you know and trying to figure out exactly how to use you know this thing to its best to his best ability and that kind of stuff. um Maybe it’s the interface. Maybe something else about it that maybe doesn’t draw me in as much. |
| Mo | it’s not It’s not a bad game. I know I’m kind of talking it down. It’s not a bad game, but it’s definitely not. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | I guess my expectations were set so high with XCOM 2 that it’s going be hard for any game to kind of like match it, essentially, at this point. |
| Jon | So play Monday morning quarterback. So you’ve played through the game now and you know what you don’t like about it. |
| Mo | Hmm? |
| Jon | Is there a thing that you could change to make it the game you wanted it to be? Is there a one or two things that you could adjust? Is it just having a richer story? Is it or is it, is it, is there a simpler solution you think? |
| Mo | I think it’s like you don’t feel the attachment. Like in XCOM, you feel attached to the people that you kind of like were working with, like your team, because the longer you kept them, the better they got. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | So if one of them died in a mission, then you were like really upset. |
| Jon | Yeah. Yeah. |
| Mo | You know you felt vested in it. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | And I don’t just don’t feel that level of investment in these characters. Like when they die, just restart. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | I’m like, okay, whatever. you know um you know It’s not like that big. Whereas I guess the the consequences aren’t nearly as high because actually the game’s almost set up that you if one of your characters dies, you have to restart. |
| Mo | like You have to. like you You failed the mission. which XCOM, if of your characters dies, you can still complete the mission. It’s just that character’s gone. |
| Jon | Right, but that guy’s dead. Yeah, he’s gone, right. |
| Mo | Yeah, he’s gone. |
| George | Right. |
| Mo | You don’t get him back anymore. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | You know? So in that sense, it’s like, okay, so basically i have to keep playing this until like everyone survives and I succeed, which the stakes seem very much lower in that case. |
| Jon | So the stakes are lower in a way. |
| Mo | So like said, it’s not a bad game. |
| Jon | Huh, I gotcha. Yeah. Mm-hmm, I understand. |
| Mo | The graphics are nice and a whole bunch of things are nice about it. It’s just, doesnt does it doesn’t have the same grab me factor that I guess XCOM 2 did. But that’s what I got. So how about you, John? You haven’t won that um title. Sounds very interesting. |
| Jon | Well, it is. Well, it is. And I found out about this game thanks to our our little ah free game bot over on our Discord server, jadexgrownup.com slash Discord. You can pop over and join any time you like. |
| Jon | How did I do, George? Did I do it right? |
| George | That’s close. You’re getting there. |
| Jon | Okay, close. All right. |
| George | Keep working. |
| Jon | More inflection. get a but but So we have a bot that is set up there. Whenever free games come up, it pops up and gives you notification. Hey, click here to go claim that free game. And i came across this called The Dark Side Detective. |
| Jon | It was free on the Epic Games Store. ah And at the moment, it’s currently, you can get it on Steam or lots of places on sale probably for, it’s normally $15, so even full price. It’s not a crazy expensive game. So the way to describe this game in a way that I think would make the most sense to people of our demographic is, what if Twin Peaks and The X-Files accept Monkey Island? |
| Mo | Oh, OK. |
| George | wow |
| Mo | Like the level of graphics, you mean like the graphic? |
| Jon | okay Right. So it is a point and click adventure in this world. |
| Mo | OK. |
| Jon | And you are this detective with like a trench coat, like a just typical trench coat detective. But in this town, creepy things happen. Someone goes missing and there’s a portal in the attic and this, you know, there are ghosts in this building and whether it’s paranormal, but super tongue in cheek point and click adventure like Monkey Island. |
| Jon | And as much as I unabashedly love Monkey Island. I can tell you, I don’t start and replay Monkey Island very often because it’s so sweeping. |
| Jon | There’s so much to do and remember. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Jon | And unlike in my youth, I can’t just play it in one linear session. I’ve got to play a little and then come back a few days later. And I’ve forgotten who was I going to see and what the thing about the dark side detective, not only is the humor amazing, not only |
| George | Right. |
| Jon | is the There’s a cop, a sidekick cop that is super inappropriate and says all the wrong things and makes you chuckle throughout the game. |
| George | Hmm. |
| Jon | Bad jokes, dad puns. One case takes place in a library. Read every book spine in the library. They’re all funny. So just the more you click, the more you learn. |
| Mo | Okay, when the okay, gotcha. |
| Jon | But it’s all divided up into cases, self-contained cases. Now, there seems to be a story about the town that’s being told, but you solve one case that might take you an hour, hour and a half, maybe 45 minutes. And when you’re done, it unlocks the next one. |
| Mo | so Okay, okay. |
| Jon | I can now start the next one without remembering anything I learned in the last one. I can remember the vibe and the characters that are recurring like my sidekick buddy, but I don’t have to remember all the clues from the last session. I can start a brand new case that unlocks and then you start a whole new adventure in a smaller area. Like one took place all in a haunted library. |
| Jon | One took place all in a mansion that was at a portal in the attic. And I played this on a live stream and I didn’t know what to expect. was, was free and it was pixely looking. It was kind of monkey Island. |
| Mo | Yeah. Yeah. |
| Jon | I’ll try it. I played, I must’ve played two straight hours and I burned through two of the six included cases and And I understand there are more that unlock after you get through those six. Plus there’s a sequel to this that has a whole new set of, of, of the cases that you can solve as this kind of gumshoe special paranormal investigative guy. I’m going to give you a link mode to the, to the live stream that I did that you could put someone could go check out. If you missed it, we had a great time reading all the silly comments and, |
| Jon | And of course, snarky things, you do the wrong thing with something. And he has some smart comment because they expect you to try to do dumb stuff. You know, use the key on the lantern and go, oh, that would break. And then we’d be… |
| Jon | there’s There’s one ghost who wants access to the computer, and once you get him access, he goes, you might want to step out of here and close the door. Like, what do he what’s the ghost going to do on the computer? yeah know it’s just It’s very funny. |
| Jon | So it’s called The Dark Side Detective. It’s from the developer named Spooky Doorway, appropriately enough. The original came out in 2017. It’s been a while. It just happened to pop up on my radar because it was free. |
| Mo | Oh, right. |
| Jon | And even now it’s pretty cheap. So worth checking out, especially if you like the Monkey Island series or Grim Fandango or Full Throttle or any of those point and click adventures. So yeah, definitely, definitely fun, fun to play, fun to watch. And I’ll probably go back to it and maybe even download that second expansion. So ah George, how about you, my man? What have you been playing? |
| George | Well, first, before I talk about what I’ve been playing, I get to say this. Fuck Moe. |
| Mo | What’d I do? |
| Jon | Oh, just in general or. |
| Mo | What’d I do? What’d I do? |
| George | In general, because um |
| Jon | Oh, no. |
| George | i i really don’t want to enjoy workplace sim games, and fucking Moe with his climb-sling cleaner bullshit got me into the genre, which is why I’m playing this game now called Restory Chill Electronics Repairs. |
| Jon | Oh, no. |
| Jon | ah |
| George | So… This is a game that um I had seen it doing research for bit by bit. It popped up a couple of times and I was like, nope, purposely not going to look at it. |
| George | And then the fine people at Atari said, hey, we’re helping put this game out there. Would you guys like to talk about it? Well, shit. Now I got to go look at it. |
| Jon | ah And? |
| George | We got keys and um I played, I’ve played so far for about two hours on this damn demo. This is not even the full game yet. |
| Mo | Oh, the demo? ah |
| George | Essentially you’re in Japan and you’re running a little small walk-up repair shop where people can bring you electronics and you repair them and then sell them for a profit. |
| George | That’s the game. That’s it. That’s the whole goddamn thing. |
| Jon | okay |
| George | But what’s interesting is they partner with Atari to have the full Atari license. So some of the things you can repair are an Atari 2600, a CX40 joystick. |
| Jon | Oh. Mm-hmm. |
| George | They also have other, like they have, um they have brands that you can tell it’s meant to be like Sony PlayStation, but it’s got a different name or the Tamagotchi, but it’s got a different, those kinds of things. |
| Mo | Okay. |
| George | Cause they don’t have the licenses for those products. But um I will say, at least in the demo, it’s a little bit misleading. Repair is a very general term to what specifically you’re doing, which is mostly just blasting dirt off of products. |
| Mo | okay |
| George | And then if they have a bad part, you try and buy that same piece online and hope that the part that you need in that piece is good. So you can like cannibalize different things to make one whole. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| George | Um, But it’s cute. it’s It’s got a snarky little sense of humor. There is some guy who, like, he’s the the landlord of the place where you’ve set up your shop, and he’s apparently running afoul of the law, it seems, because cops are coming in and asking you questions. But you’re literally just sitting in a first-person chair in your little shop in Japan, |
| George | cleaning different electronics off. That’s the whole thing. |
| Mo | I hate to say this, I’m like looking forward to this one. |
| Jon | It kind of sounds fun. |
| George | Yeah, I know you are. |
| George | It’s very Zen-like. So um in much the same way that crimes Crime Scene Cleaner like had… ah Granted, it’s very horrific what you’re doing in that game, but there’s this mode that you get into where you’re just used to moving the mouse back and forth to clean something or dust something. |
| Jon | Right. |
| George | That’s exactly what you have in this. They have a little radio that’s on your desk that you can turn on and off, and it’s always playing the same soothing kind of… |
| Jon | Sounds |
| George | melody sound thing that, and you just look up and 30 minutes have gone by and you’ve repaired a couple of CX 40s and a Tamagotchi thing and you’ve sold them and you made money and you bought a license so you can repair other things. |
| Jon | good. Ha ha ha ha ha. |
| George | And yeah, I, I fight myself every day right now to not turn that goddamn game on. |
| Jon | sounds good |
| Mo | So what’s the kind of the progression? Like, i mean, obviously, if you’re just repairing the same stuff over and over, gets boring. So what’s the kind of the progression of the game? |
| George | There’s not so far in the demo. |
| Mo | Okay. |
| George | um The only progression I can say is that you get to, as you earn money on the things you can repair right now that you’re licensed to repair, you can buy new licenses to repair other products. |
| Jon | Oh, okay. |
| George | so |
| Mo | OK. OK. |
| George | So there are some gaming products, like I mentioned. There’s also cell phones that you repair, like flip phones and like the Nokia Ericsson type phones from back in the day. |
| George | um |
| Jon | Yep. |
| George | you, you get to upgrade your tools. Oh, so maybe there’s some progression there. Like you can, you start off with a regular screwdriver. |
| Mo | okay |
| George | So it takes you a while to take the screws out and then you can get an electric screwdriver and they come out a lot faster. |
| Jon | Okay. |
| Mo | okay okay |
| Jon | All right. |
| George | You start off with like a little brush to help you dust the things off. |
| Jon | Yeah. Makes sense. |
| George | And then you can buy an air canister and blow dust off. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| George | And yeah, |
| Mo | We just talked about ear cans. |
| George | Yeah, I know. Exactly. |
| Mo | Ha ha ha ha. |
| George | ah I just can’t describe it. It’s very cute. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| George | It’s, um, it’s all pastels and very, ah easy on the eyes drawings. It’s not harsh or anything like that. And you can play it for 10 minutes and shut down your shop and click on your little bike and leave your shop. |
| George | And then it starts the next day and it’s, you can do however you like, cause it’s your business and you just keep going, I guess. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Jon | yeah i I haven’t fired it up yet, but it looks so… |
| Mo | Thank you. |
| Jon | Like the art style looks so soft. I don’t mean soft focus. |
| George | he |
| Jon | I mean, like everything’s slightly rounded corners, even though the things you’re working on might historically be a little sharper edge. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Jon | It’s just almost like it’s a safe world. Everything’s kind of calm and soft. and Nothing can hurt you. And you’re just working on these tinker tinker with stuff. And yeah, it looks right up my alley. |
| George | Yeah. |
| Jon | Yeah. Whereas the crime scene cleaner wasn’t. |
| George | I hope it’s |
| Jon | I think this will be. |
| George | No, yeah. |
| Jon | ah |
| George | I hope at some point you actually get to do some kind of repair quote unquote work. Like you get to do some kind of soldering or something. |
| Mo | Mm-hmm. |
| Jon | Not just cleanup. Right. |
| George | But for right now, at least in the demo, the place that I’m at, I think I’m in like day five or six. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| George | You’re just cleaning. |
| Jon | Yeah. Okay. |
| George | So |
| Jon | So, so it’s restored. So it’s, ah is the name like a play on restore, right? Restore, restorey. |
| George | it is. Yeah, |
| Jon | that’s okay. I was, when I first read it, like where’s the story? |
| George | Exactly. |
| Jon | Oh, it’s restoring. So it’s restoring. I get it. I get it. |
| George | Yep. |
| Jon | We are wounding out. We’re wounding out. |
| Mo | Wounding up. Let’s wascally wabbit. |
| Jon | woof What the what? Okay. Let’s try again. Three, two. We are rounding out this last segment of the show. The last regular season, last regular episode, last regular episode. Fuck. |
| Jon | Three, two. We are rounding out the last episode of the last segment of the year, of a regular episode at least. And we you know we always like to take a moment here toward the end to talk about the things we’re either looking at now or looking forward to between now and the next time we get together. Why don’t we start with you, George? What do you got coming up on this holiday horizon? |
| George | Well, first up, Mo kind of briefly mentioned it in our last segment for games that the Steam Winter Sale is going on right now. It started on December 18th, and it continues through January 5th, 2026. |
| Jon | Oh, yeah. |
| Mo | It’s |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Jon | Wow. |
| George | So you’ve still got some time when you’re listening to this episode, if you catch it on release day, to go out there and pick up some of your favorite games that’ll likely be on sale. |
| Mo | long. |
| Jon | It’s generous. |
| George | The Winter Sale is usually the biggest with Steam besides the Summer Sale. So… |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| George | The the spring and the fall sales are the two weaker ones, but summer and winter are the two big ones. |
| Jon | Yep. |
| George | So I’m looking forward to just seeing if I can prevent myself from spending money this year. |
| Mo | You’re not going to. |
| Jon | No. Answered. You can’t. |
| George | You’re right. Stranger Things Season 5 Part 2 also releases December 25th. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| George | So that’s the next three episodes. So I’m one step closer to being able to watch the entire fifth season, because I’m not watching any of it until all the episodes drop. |
| George | I think it’s going to be, a I’m hoping, I shouldn’t say I think, I’m hoping that it’s going to be a good series finale. I don’t care if they do anything else in this universe ever again. |
| George | i just want this last season to live up to what the first four have done for me. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. Yep. |
| George | Um, and then finally, a thing that I do not expect to like at all, but I’m kind of looking forward to it just because I think it’s mandatory. |
| Jon | Wow. |
| George | Uh, Avatar Fire and an Ash releases on December 19th. |
| Mo | Oh. Oh. |
| Jon | Wow. |
| Mo | Oh, my God. |
| George | I know it’s, it’s one of those where like, you don’t want to be forced to go see this in the theater, but you’re almost bound to because of the visuals that are going to be employed. |
| Mo | I know. I… i |
| Jon | oh Goodness. like, if you’re going to see it. See it there is what’s one of those weird. |
| George | Yeah. Yeah. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| George | Right. |
| Mo | But if he if it does well, he’ll make another one. |
| George | You know, so we’ll be… |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | ha ha ha ha. |
| George | We’ll be in Orlando when that comes out, so we might try and go take a look at it over at the Disney theater that’s on the little, what is it, Disney Walker, Disney, i don’t know what that thing is called anymore, but the place where, Downtown Disney, something like that, whatever it’s called. |
| Jon | Mm. Yeah. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. Is it downtown Disney now or something like something like that? Yeah, whatever it’s called. |
| George | um We might go see it over there while we’re in town. |
| Jon | All right. |
| George | So, yeah, um’m I’m looking forward to Avatar Fire and Asha for no other reason just to be pissed off that it’s out. |
| Jon | ah We know how much you enjoy being pissed off, so it all fits. |
| George | I do enjoy being pissed off. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| George | It’s kind of my place in life. So Mo, what about you? You looking forward to anything? |
| Mo | Oh, sure. um Obviously, the Stranger Things finale, like everybody else, you know, the I should say the series finale, right? That’s this ending everything at this point. um The second part of the paper, the second part of season one. |
| Jon | Really? |
| Mo | Yep, they’re doing the second part. |
| Jon | i really enjoyed that. |
| Mo | So it’s January 5th. |
| Jon | Awesome. |
| Mo | So, yeah, definitely looking forward to more of that. That show definitely sucked me in pretty quickly. |
| Jon | Yep. |
| Mo | i was surprised, actually, how like I thought it’d be like another Office rehash, but was like, no, this is actually, i don’t know, it just works. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| Jon | I think I watched the whole first half season three times now. |
| Mo | Yeah. Yeah, it’s it’s is very fun. |
| Jon | I think it was really fun. Yeah. |
| Mo | um And what I’m really looking forward to is this new show called The Copenhagen Test. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | It’s on Peacock. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | It it comes out 1227. Never heard of it except for the releases page that George turns on to. It’s basically about a person. |
| Jon | Ah. |
| Mo | It’s the guy who plays Shang-Chi in the Marvel series. ah movies. |
| Jon | Uh-huh. |
| Mo | He’s basically some sort of like, yeah, he’s some sort of spy where apparently they’ve done something where the enemy can see everything he sees and hears like through him. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| George | oh Lou. Lou. |
| Mo | So he’s trying to figure out to fight it while still pretending to do things normally. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | If that makes sense. |
| George | Oh, |
| Jon | Like disinformation to the enemy while he’s doing what he needs. |
| Mo | Right. So it looks like he’s like he’s not doing well. |
| Jon | That’s good. |
| Mo | He’s actually trying to find out who it is. |
| Jon | I’m already confused. |
| Mo | i am, too. And I saw I said if they can pull this off, this could be really, really interesting if they can pull it off or it’s going be awful. one of those two. I figure I’m just going go for it. So that’s what I’m looking forward to. |
| Jon | Okay. |
| Mo | How about you, John? |
| Jon | Yeah, sure. ah Well, in no particular order, actually way out of order, but I’m looking forward to attending the Consumer Electronics Show again. Again, I’ll be visiting our friends at My Arcade there at CES and getting an early look at the new products they have coming out, or i should say getting a late look at the products that didn’t come out last year. They’re probably coming out this year. |
| Jon | they but But definitely they invited me out and we always get good coverage there. We get good intel there that lasts us throughout the year. So um I’ll again be there. If you’re at CES, swing by the My Arcade booth January 6th and 7th and I’ll be stalking the booth and hanging out there. |
| Jon | um Next is a film coming out December 25th called Song Sung Blue. Now, if you haven’t heard of this, it’s actually, it’s kind of, it’s, it’s a dramatic retelling of a documentary that’s already come out. |
| Jon | It stars, let’s see who is in it. It is, crap. I had who was in it. What the hell’s his name? Okay. It’s starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as this pair of down on their luck performers that form a Neil Diamond tribute band that |
| Mo | okay okay |
| Jon | and find success and love along the way. So two good performers based on a true story coming out on Christmas day. |
| Mo | Okay. yeah. |
| Jon | So it’s probably going to be a good feel good story. And based on, like i said, a documentary that already came out. So i looking forward to that coming out. um And the thing I’m most looking forward to is just now, George mentioned earlier in the show that we have ah during the holidays, we’ll have a couple of rewinds coming your way. So it’s a few weeks before we’ll talk again, January sixteenth Starfleet Academy, the new Star Trek series dropping on Paramount plus, uh, |
| Mo | yeah |
| Jon | I have tons of thoughts about it, but no matter what you think one way or the other, I’m excited to see what they do with it. There’s a lot of interesting things they could do with it. |
| Mo | Yeah. Mm-hmm. |
| Jon | There’s lot of things that I’m not sure I’m going to like, but I’m eager to see. i’m going to give everything a shot. So Starfleet Academy, Paramount Plus, January sixteenth All right. Before we get out of the show, I do want to thank a new but patron. But first, Mo, I know that one of the benefits of being a patron is you can ask a question that we’ll answer here on the show. And I see you have another one in the chamber. |
| Mo | Yeah, ah this is a question from Lou who’s actually done ah questions before. He said, we all have memories that trigger a specific year. Can you name something that instantly triggers a year for you? |
| Mo | An he says, he says, like when I hear Sweet Child of Mine by Guns N’ Roses, he says, i immediately start to think of school in 1989. And that’s yeah how that song was just playing everywhere. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. Yeah. |
| Mo | you know, so and I guess he said so it’s like not necessarily like, you know, think of high school, but can you think of like it has to be pretty specific? |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | I think like he’s asking like something that you hear that takes you to a very specific spot in time. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. Yeah. |
| Mo | So, John, you’ve been nodding. Do you have something? |
| Jon | ah Yeah, I can go. You know, and it’s also a song. I guess Lou actually inspired me to think, oh, what about songs? It’s almost an easy answer because the songs typically connect you right back to a thing. |
| Jon | But I have a super specific one, and that is ah the 12-inch cut of Jam On It by Nucleus. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| Jon | If I hear that song, I am immediately on the high school band bus, 1986, going to a band competition. It was, i don’t know, an hour away or so. So we i all rented a bus. And that song, that time, it was on everybody’s boom box. Everybody was playing it. And I can almost smell the bus. |
| Jon | When I hear jam on it playing, I’m like, oh, my God, I know what’s going on. Like, can smell like the the brass cleaner on my fingers, you know, is from the from the band. |
| Mo | she |
| Jon | And songs do that really easily, I guess. |
| Mo | Yeah, they do. |
| Jon | It’s almost cheating answer. But Lou, I tell you, you know, yours that was a song inspired you reminded me of a song that I’ve always, every time I hear it, and I never really talked about it that much, but yeah, it sends me right back on that band bus. |
| Mo | It is kind of. |
| Jon | Yeah. What about you? |
| Mo | You. |
| Mo | You. |
| Jon | I didn’t say who wants to go next. |
| Mo | can go next. |
| Jon | I’ll say it again. Which of you wants to go next? And I’ll say that. |
| Mo | i’ go i can go next |
| Jon | You’re going to say, de How about you, Moe? |
| Mo | So actually, i was thinking cause I was thinking same thing, like songs, but you know I was like, that’s kind of cheating a little bit. It’s really not, but you know what i mean. um |
| Jon | I know. Yeah. |
| Mo | But actually, something that mely immediately brings back to a specific spot is when the Challenger exploded. um |
| Jon | oo Oh yeah. |
| Mo | 1986. Oh, sorry. |
| George | Well, shit, I guess I should have gone next. |
| Jon | he we You can share. |
| Mo | Because it was 86. |
| Jon | You can share. |
| Mo | I had moved into a new dorm in college. New semester started. |
| Jon | Yeah. Yeah. |
| Mo | The guy had a small TV. um And all a sudden I’m sitting there waking up and I’m looking and I see that it happened. |
| Jon | Hmm. |
| Mo | I’m like, what the heck? Cause I’m, you know, i’m a big space nerd. So I was usually follow that stuff. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | And it was just like, every time I see, if I see anything related to the space shuttle or anything that, unfortunately my head kind of goes right back to that. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | That’s what think of right away. |
| Jon | Yeah. Yeah. |
| Mo | So sorry, George, if you had the same one though, we can share. I’m i’m willing to share. |
| George | but |
| Jon | Well, what does it invoke for you? |
| George | Well, I mean, i’ll yeah, well, so I remember, um and i was it’s funny because even before this question came to us, I was actually talking about this memory with my mother about a week ago. |
| Jon | I mean, different things probably, right? |
| George | when that When the Challenger blew up, I was 15 years old, so I wasn’t allowed to drive on my own yet, but I was allowed to um ah like drive with somebody else who’s licensed in the car. |
| Jon | Learner’s permit thing. |
| George | But that particular day I wasn’t driving. |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| George | My mother had picked me up from school and we were in the drive-thru lane at the Wendy’s near my high school. |
| Jon | Okay. |
| George | um And I specifically remember being in the drive-thru lane and her placing the order right when I heard the announcement about Challenger blowing up. |
| Jon | Okay. |
| George | And I was just sitting there like, holy crap. And I guess that kind of triggered the other one that I could talk about. And that was um the September 11th attack. |
| Mo | Mm-hmm. |
| Jon | Oh, sure. Yeah. Mm-hmm. |
| George | I have a very distinct memory because I had just gotten married a few months before I was living in Los Angeles and i was driving down the freeway from where my wife and I lived in Pasadena down into downtown Los Angeles because the company I worked for was setting up a new warehouse in downtown Los Angeles And I was driving down the freeway and I heard the announcement over the radio, a plane has struck the tower at world trade center, blah, blah, And I was like, Oh shit, that sucks. |
| Mo | Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| George | What the, that’s terrible. And then like just a couple minutes after, Oh, they’re showing it over again. Oh no, wait, this isn’t a replay. It’s another plane. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. |
| George | Is it the tower? |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| George | We must be under attack. And I’m starting to freak out. The freeway at that point, it empties, it dead ends onto a surface street in downtown LA from Pasadena. |
| George | And right as I pulled onto the surface street, I catch something out of the corner my eye in my rear view mirror and a tank just rolls across the freeway and parks right on the freeway. |
| Jon | Whoa. |
| Mo | Is that weird? |
| Jon | Whoa. Dang. |
| George | And I’m like, oh shit, um this is Los Angeles. |
| Jon | Goodness. Mm-hmm. |
| Jon | thing |
| George | It’s just as important to the US s as New York is just about. |
| Jon | goodness |
| George | I’m probably going to die. So I jumped on the phone, called my wife. |
| Mo | m |
| George | I said, go get the kids and go to the house. And she was like, what’s going on I said, just go get the kids and go to the house. I don’t know when I can be home. And pulled in, pulled into the warehouse. The other worker ah who was there with me to help start setting up for that week, he was already there. |
| George | And we were both like, what’s going on? We were trying to get online. We were using a dial-up modem because that’s all we had in that warehouse. |
| Jon | Sure. Mm-hmm. |
| Mo | Yeah. Jeez. |
| George | And every news site was just hammered. |
| Jon | Jammed. |
| George | So, you yeah, you couldn’t get anything. |
| Mo | yeah |
| Jon | Yep. |
| George | And then we heard a knock at our door and it was the LAPD coming around and checking every building. And they said, okay, show us your credentials and show them our credentials. |
| George | they’re like, okay, you are not allowed to leave this building until we come back and tell you it’s okay. |
| Jon | Hmm. |
| George | If we catch you on the street, we will shoot you. |
| Mo | geez |
| Jon | Jeez. Okay. |
| George | And I went, yes, sir. We will be here all day. |
| Mo | Yeah, what else are you going to say, right? |
| Jon | We’ll be here on the dial-up modem, seeing what we can learn. |
| Mo | Yeah, |
| George | yep |
| Jon | Yeah. Wow. |
| George | So, yeah, that takes me straight back to 2001. And one |
| Jon | Yeah. |
| Mo | yeah I can see that. |
| Jon | I see it. Yeah. |
| Mo | Wow. It’s some heavy stuff, but, you know, yeah, i mean, that’s what. |
| Jon | And jam on it. So, yeah. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| George | jam on it. |
| Mo | And Gem on it. |
| George | ah |
| Jon | ah |
| Mo | Yeah, there you go. So, but thanks for the question. And if you want your question answered on the show, it’s super easy. |
| Jon | Mm-hmm. Yeah, man. |
| Mo | Just go to genxgrownup.com slash Patreon. It little dollar a month. Ask your question and there’s a good chance we’ll ask it right here on the show. |
| Jon | Yeah. You know, that’s exactly what Jason did. A brand new Jason. No last name. I’m not hiding his last name. His account on Patreon is Jason. He’s from Canada. I can tell you because there’s conversion of money happening. |
| Jon | So Jason, thank you. |
| Mo | ah |
| Jon | Thank you for being. |
| George | What you trying to track Jason down? Why are you trying to dox this poor guy? |
| Jon | And here’s his address. I narrowed it to a very large geographic area, so I don’t think he’s doxxed out yet. Jason, thank you for heading, as Mo said, to patreon.com slash GenX. Grown up, opening up your wallet, opening up your heart, putting a little pledge in there to help us continue to do what we do here on the show, on YouTube the website, of course. |
| Jon | We love that you did. You know, you’re joining a roster of amazing people. We talk about him here all the time and they continue to support us and have for years. And Jason, we’re grateful for you and hope that you stick with us for years too. We’re glad you enjoy us enough to put your money where your mouth is. |
| Jon | All right, that is going to do it for this episode 203, the last regular episode of the year, we’ve noted. But don’t worry. If you’re worried, don’t worry. we’ll be We’ll be back with you in a couple of weeks. We’ll have some rewinds in between them. |
| Jon | One more backtrack coming your way. In fact, Mo, would like to do the honors and let the fourth listener know what the backtrack is? Oh, actually, it drops on the first, January 1st. |
| Mo | Yes, Jeremy first. |
| Jon | So this is like the last, last episode. Okay, yeah. Let them know what’s coming their way. |
| Mo | Yeah. So if you’re a regular listener, you’ve been hearing us about the entire year about TVs and movies and technology that we’ve talked about. Well, this episode of the backtrack, we’re going to look back on 2025 and pick out the best movie, best TV and best technology and best game that we’ve experienced during the whole year. |
| Jon | Hmm. This is a new one for us. We haven’t done this before. So I’m looking forward to seeing how it shakes out and how the response is. |
| Mo | Yeah. |
| Jon | But it’s been kind of tough picking the best, actually. |
| Mo | Oh my God, yeah. And going try to keep Georgia to one per. |
| Jon | It’s been rough. Yeah. Good luck. |
| Mo | I know. We’re going to try. said try. |
| George | I don’t think I cheated once on this one. |
| Jon | Don’t. |
| Mo | I’m managing expectations on this one. |
| Jon | On this one. This is the one. |
| Mo | That’s true. We’re fine. |
| Jon | This is the one. |
| George | yeah |
| Jon | Well, you did kind of have two answers for Lou, right? Because Mo took yours. |
| Mo | that’s true |
| Jon | So you a little bit. |
| George | That’s not my fault. |
| Jon | Does |
| George | I would have gone with just one. |
| Jon | Okay. |
| George | Moe fucked it up. |
| Jon | All right. |
| George | That’s not my fault. |
| Jon | As long as you can blame Mo, you’re in the clear. Okay. |
| Mo | we’re fine |
| Jon | we We hope you will join us for that one. Until then, I am John George. Thank you so much for being here, man. |
| George | Yes, sir. |
| Jon | Mo, you know, I appreciate you, sir. |
| Mo | Always fun. |
| Jon | Fourth listener. It’s you. We all appreciate most of all. We can’t wait to talk to you again next time. Bye-bye. |
| George | See you guys. |
| Mo | Take care everybody. |
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