Direct Upgrade

It's your favorite - what petty/minute things really grind your gears? Are YOU guilty of these small infractions??!?!?

In this episode we reflect on our deep friendship by discussing what we admire about one another. If you enjoy watching 3 guys stroke each other off (egos), then this is the episode for you!

Three white males with headphones and mics in front of their faces give completely informed and definitive takes on the recent Millie Bobby Brown controversy. Seriously if you have two X chromosomes please weigh in. We want to hear other people's takes in the comments!

Our beloved friends and listeners, all good things must come to an end. 

The boys embark on a classic choose your own adventure campaign where they explore an abandoned spaceship of mysterious and deadly origin. Will they make it out alive? Listen and find out.

Join the boys for a great episode where we talk about things that make us cringe. Public freak-outs? Sucking down a glizzy? The office? Come find out on another cringepisode of Direct Upgrade.

Happy 50th! In this episode we celebrate our 50s and the birth of Derek's child with the childless hosts giving the new father some parenting advice....

A little mix for you, dear listener. For starters, skincare a la Mak. Your entree will be story time with Derek about and discussion about tipping on the side. For dessert, Patrick brings us home with the lengthy gaps between TV show seasons.

They boys talk about some of their favorite fictional characters. What made these characters so amazing? Why do we resonate with them? Who even are they? Find out on another episode of Direct Upgrade. And don't forget to stay after the credits for some sweet sweet bonus content.

In a more serious episode, your hosts share some recent tearful moments and sad memories.

Join the boys for some record shattering stories. What is the longest you've gone without sleep? Drunkest you have ever been? We talk about some of our personal records on another episode of Direct Upgrade.

You thought you knew about Derek, heck, even we thought we knew everything there was to know about him. Turns out our dear Derek lives a life full of mysteries. Listen as we discover his secret past, present, and future.

In this episode we learn all about the sordid past of the Most Interesting Man in the World - our host Patrick. Peek behind the curtain at his life to glimpse scenes of a bustling city in Zimbabwe, a quiet cliffside castle in Wales, and exploration of the jungles of Vietnam! 

Today we celebrate our millions and millions of listeners around the world. We also invite you tell us what you want to hear moving forward, we're here for YOU dear listener!

Today we probe into the deep dark caverns of Mak's past. Where was Mak born? Where did he grow up? Is he 4 racoons in a trench coat? Who knows! Find out on another episode of Direct Upgrade. 

In this episode the boys review our favorite scenes from movies, books, etc. This was fun to edit......

Join us as we decide if we would rather do one (cool or awful) thing or another (cool or awful) thing. Wrong answers get berated by the others. Pick wisely, listener, or we shall berate you too.

The boys relive some college experiences. What would you do in the scenarios we were in? 

In this pop culture episode we talk about Brandon Sanderson, Sci-fi, Shrinking, The Bear Season 3, and ... phobias? 

You didn't ask for it, you may not even want it, but here we are to finish off our review of the 2012 film Dredd in part 2 of We Are the Law.

Join us as we take a (not so) deep dive into the cinematic world of Judge Dredd by going scene-by-scene, discussing our favorite moments of the 2012 modern cult classic film Dredd in this 2 part series.

This week we do a 180 from the comedy bits and focus on mental health. I asked the boys to open up about some of their mental health struggles to help normalize men talking about their mental health. 

It's time for a live-play podcast! Twiddly and his orc master return to...seduce a cave of goblins? We use the mini-rpg system Roll for Shoes to play our first TTRPG! https://rollforshoes.com/

The boys do improv for the first time...live.

In this weeks episode the gang talks about special birthday presents and some hilarious recent brain farts. Come enjoy the the goofballs on another episode of Direct Upgrade.

Do you have a "not memorable" memory? Some random thing you remember vividly? We sure do! Join us while we talk about this and the most expensive thing we've ever held, and for some reason berate the people who bought Mak's house?!? 

Our Olympics post mortem episode! If you had to draft your Olympics with only your favorite sports, which ones would you choose? Join us as we try to do just that!

What this space needs is more finance podcasts. We fill the need by discussing some of the best and worst financial advice we've ever received. 

Welcome to the brainrot free zone! Get educated with special guests Randi and Chris as we discuss literature education in schools, learning theory, buses, mechanics...and minions? They ate. 

We let our creative nerd flags fly as we create our OWN hard magic systems! Would you read fantasy books based on these magic systems?

In this guest episode we take a deep dive with special guest Elissa into the world of HEMA - Historical European martial arts. What other hobbies can you hit people with swords?

Ooh it's getting controversial now. How do you feel about massages, Snoop Dogg, ramen in broth, NY style pizza, no-smoking commercials, MMA fighting, and cemeteries? Because WE DON'T LIKE 'EM! 

It's back baby! We've got more super petty things that annoy us - grammar mistakes, TSA line etiquette, computer chairs, and ... allergy tests? Do you relate or are we just too petty?

Let's get practical! Sort of. In this episode we discuss how to merge lanes, how to get rid of furniture, and a memes we've hated but came around to.

It's a variety episode! There is singing, intolerable accents, car accident scenarios, summer camp stories, discussion of the hit reality show Jury Duty, songs stuck in your head, and what the heck is frisson?    SCP Foundation - https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/ 

In this cultured episode, we each start the episode with a performance of some sort - and let us say they're quite different! We also go over some of our favorite YouTube channels.    Nardwuar - https://www.youtube.com/@nardwuar 

Have you ever thought - "this book would be a great movie?" Join us while we chat about some of our favorite IPs that would be great in other mediums! What's on your adaptation wish list?

r/Grimdank is descending into Femboy Madness. And we're here for it! Join us for a detailed look into how a historically exclusive tabletop hobby community is undergoing a cultural renaissance! Grimdank - https://www.reddit.com/r/Grimdank/  u/Sweet_older-Sister - https://www.reddit.com/user/Sweet_older-Sister/submitted/  r/PrimarchGFs - https://www.reddit.com/r/PrimarchGFs/ 

In this guest episode, we talk about some particularly memorable song lyrics, as well as some of our guest's GEAR GRINDERS.    Links Petey - https://open.spotify.com/artist/4TeKBLCqmYXzvcgYX4t4YA  Rae Sremmurd - No Type - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzMrK-aGCug  I trust you'll be able to find Kanye, Shakira, and Bruce Springsteen music on your own....

If you had the power of a god-emperor, what societal systems would you change? We talk about how we provide feedback in the USA, "harm done" penal systems, and driving. 

In this episode we talk about "Death of the Author" in two ways.  1. If you interpret art differently than the author intended, is it less valid? 2. Can you enjoy a work of art if the author is a bad person?

Do you think our memes are clever? Because we sure do. This is a primer into some our innermost inside jokes from various games we've played. Oh, and we talk about Balatro. 

How long until YOU get replaced by AI? We debate it for our jobs. 

In our first ever GUEST EPISODE, Jake joins us to dole out some sage wisdom on how to balance gaming and life, bookended with discussion of crab rangoon and an argument over "No Peeing" signs. 

Call me Alice, because we're going down some rabbit holes! We talk about things we've become accidental "experts" on, namely Oppenheimer, razorblades, and what would happen if the sun suddenly disappeared?

We're getting hot and bothered! We're excited to share one of our topic ideas that spurred us to make a podcast - what are the small things in life that irk you more than they should? Do you agree with ours?

Do you think gambling in games with real money is ok? Do you like to pre-order things? Are microtransactions cool? What's an autoshooter? Are we made of meat? Find out on this episode of DIRECT UPGRADE!   Link: They're Made Out Of Meat - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6JFTmQCFHg 

What's your Spotify algorithm giving you? We discuss our recent favorites and dive into some things that we DON'T know, but WISH we did. 

Have you ever been the villain in someone else's story? Hear our answers, as well as - discussing happy memories, the rise of TikTok doctors, and filming at the gym.

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only DIRECT UPGRADE - where we discuss recent books and games we're enjoying, what does "grimdark" mean, and are you pro Dr. Pimple Popper?  Links He Who Fights with Monsters - https://www.audible.com/pd/He-Who-Fights-with-Monsters-A-LitRPG-Adventure-Audiobook/1774248182 The Will of the Many - https://www.amazon.com/Will-Many-Hierarchy-Book-ebook/dp/B0BHTMBW5B  The Way of Shadows (Night Angel Trilogy) - https://www.amazon.com/Way-Shadows-Night-Angel-Trilogy/dp/0316033677  The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England - https://www.amazon.com/Wizards-Handbook-Surviving-Medieval-England/dp/1250899672  The Blade Itself (The First Law Trilogy) - https://www.amazon.com/Blade-Itself-First-Law-Trilogy/dp/0316387312  First and Only (Gaunt's Ghost) - https://www.amazon.com/First-and-Only-Dan-Abnett-audiobook/dp/B07ZL54RBG/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= 

Stocks are high on memes in this episode, where we talk about some new games we're playing, our favorite trending new memes, the most dangerous hike we've been on, and some medical oddities.