Podcasts about spritle

This week offers us a technicolor overload of heretofore unseen heights!  The Super Mario Bros. Movie puts gold coins in our pockets and Toads in our hearts, while Speed Racer proceeds to shake all that stuff out of us with….speed!  Oh TMI, you were wonderful! #supermariobrosmovie #supermario #speedracer #nintendo #mario

In our 53rd episode of COMIC BEAT INSIDER (CBI), Jimmy and Heidi MacDonald (The Beat Chief) welcome Therese Lacson (Nerdophiles) & Jay Edidin (Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men) to discuss the 2008 film SPEED RACER directed by The Wachowskis! How long did it take for this project to come together? Why do The Wachowskis have such a good handle on CGI? Did Chim Chim really bite Spritle? Did KPop help this film? Why did it flop at the box office? Join us each week to listen in live. Send in topic ideas for future episodes. Be it in comics, TV or film. Also, get a hold of us! Thanks for listening!

The 25th anniversary episode! Have you too found yourself dismissing the Wachowskis' exuberant, boisterous, child-like, form-busting IP-driven blockbuster to the dustbin of history? Well, ya shouldn't! For Shane's pick this week, he and guest-host Ted Haycraft discuss how this 2008 film utilized the 3D format to adapt a flat 2D cheap TV anime, its use of split-screen and wipes as a hybrid of visual effects and inventive editing, the back and forth intensity and density of its storytelling, live-action Spritle and Chim Chim, and how, even ten years gone, the film still contains currents for the future of digital cinema.

Guest - Fidelis J Romstom (Spritle Software) Host-Ashwath Athreya(Ampliz) Spritle Software: An interdisciplinary team of developers, consultants and user experience specialists dedicated to building enterprise applications and premium digital products that bring your ideas to life, delight your users and help you achieve your goals. Ampliz SalesBuddy is a B2B Sales Intelligence platform to meet your Lead generation needs. We help you understand and identify your prospects with enriched data-driven insights in seconds. Ampliz Buddy is a podcast focused on Sales, Digital Marketing, Business Development executives, and Growth specialist. We focus on the issues of young salesperson faces and what can be done to resolve them.

This week, LaNeysha and Kate jump into the mach 5 and talk about Speed Racer. The 2008 anime adaptation of a 1960s anime from the Wachowskis is both hated and loved by fans of Speed Racer. Where did the women fall on this divide? Tuen in to hear them talk about John Goodman's wrestling skills, how evil British accents can sound, the evil that is Spritle, and some thirsty side convos about Ninja Assassin and Rain. 

This week’s episode flashes back to 2008 for the Wachowskis’ Speed Racer! Zac’s excited, Ben and Lauren aren’t, and Jon, well, he’s not quite sure. I still love it, but I don’t really have a lot of luck turning anyone to my side. Still, if you are a fan, or not, we have a lot of fun going back and forth on this. Plus, there is some Michael Giacchino score in there. Download. Listen. Enjoy! 0:01:30 Some General, Positive, Thoughts On Speed Racer 0:09:15 Some Negative Thoughts On Speed Racer From Lauren And Ben 0:11:20 Chim Chim and Spritle, The Effects 10 Years Later, And Anime Talk 0:17:15 Zac Defends His Love Through The Problems 0:25:30 Rain And Ninjas And Ninja Assassin 0:28:05 Family In The Film And A Digression Into Mark McGwire And Cheating 0:32:00 Anti-Capitalism, Without Equinesapiens @middleofrow #nothe

Kyrixes Goldenflame – John Spritle Chudforth – Dan Njorvold Anvilesmite – James Graavor Corgretor - Burt Diro Kalamire – Gabe Sled - Aaron DM – Vince Sled heads down into the sewer, lantern in hand. As he makes his way further in, the light from the lantern reveals passages branching left and right further ahead. The rest the party joins Sled in the sewer tunnel and investigating the area it appears that the right passage looks as if it has been disturbed. Spritle sends Bigby, his bat familiar, to scout ahead. Bigby finds light coming from a grate set in the wall so the party moves forward. Spritle checks the grate for traps and finding nothing proceeds to pop the grate off. Bigby delves further into in tunnels and comes upon a room that turns out to be rat central. Wererats and rat swarms abound! Sled tries to convince to the party to use the door as a choke point but Kyrixes rushes in breathing his dragon breath. Combat ensues and Ned takes a beaten from the party ultimately loosing his head to Sled’s blade. Which I should be noted that Sled keeps the head and takes in with them when they leave. While investigating the room, they find a trapped stone in the floor. The ever vigilant Spritle finds the trap and safely disarms it finding Ned’s journal, a cloak and a crap load of coins. Sled assumes ownership of Ned’s belongings and begins reading from the journal. With nothing left to do except get paid our group heads topside to get cleaned up and collect their debt. Afterwards they head over to the temple of Bahamut to check in on Sir Reginald. It seems he is in need of an artifact that will replace the flesh on his bones. Unfortunately the artifact is in Thay, a journey not undertaken lightly. They agree to help as good adventurers are wont to do and they use their pocket boat to head back to Waterdeep before beginning their new quest. www.birdscoffeecompany.com/ Use Code Legends10 to get 10% off your order! Theme music created by Brett Miller http://www.brettmillermusic.net/

Kyrixes Goldenflame – John Spritle Chudforth – Dan Njorvold Anvilesmite – James Graavor Corgretor - Burt Diro Kalamire – Gabe Sled - Aaron DM – Vince We begin tonight’s adventure at the Tavern on the Wall in Neverwinter. The Brotherhood of the Honest Coin is relaxing after their harrowing adventure against Gravour’s hated foe Tal Orvas. The ever impertinent Sled spies a group of dwarves and tries to “hook up” Njorvold with a fairly comely Dwarven craftswoman. Njorvold defers and Kyrixes asks Maryellen of the Shortbeards what news there is to be had in Neverwinter. She relates that there have been an inordinate number of rats that have been hanging around and that their behavior is strange. It’s almost as if they have been ensorcelled. Spritle eagerly asks if she can point to their location on his map. Sled asks if she would like to join the party but when she finds out that they will be hunting rats she flatly refuses. The guys turn in for the night. Around 4 bells Sled, Diro and Njorvold are awaken by skritching noises and spy rats heading down the alley near the tavern. Njorvold declines to investigate but Sled wakes Kyrixes and along with Diro they head out to investigate. They track the rats to a sewer grate behind the butchers shop and decide that discretion is the better part of valor and wait to return in the morning. One the way back Diro decides to mess with Sled and disguises himself as a woman. Much hilarity ensues. In the morning after breakfast the group takes Sir Reginald over to the temple of Bahamut to see what can be done for him. They agree to take him in. Next stop on the whirlwind tour in the municipal offices to see Spritle’s contact Marcus. Marcus explains the situation with the rats. Armed with the new information Spritle sits with his notes to try and come up with a plan. As they are making their way through the market, a familiar figure exits a shady looking building and transforms into a giant rat. Sled’s brother Ned has returned. Realizing that they will need silver to defeat their potential foes the Brotherhood of the Honest Coin goes on a shopping spree and lucky for them silvered weapons are on sale today. www.birdscoffeecompany.com/ Use Code Legends10 to get 10% off your order! https://beta.podchaser.com/ Use code legendsoftabletop for access and consider leaving us a review Theme music created by Brett Miller http://www.brettmillermusic.net/

Kyrixes Goldenflame – John Spritle Chudforth – Dan Njorvold Anvilesmite – James Graavor Corgretor - Burt Diro Kalamire – Gabe Sled - Aaron DM – Vince Sled picks up the ring and puts it on. The rest of the party begins debating on what to do with Tal. Sled quickly becoming bored, shoots Tal with his crossbow and Njorvold steps in front of him to protect Tal. More debating ensues and in the confusion Sled assassinates Tal and Spritle then knocks Sled out. Njorvold takes the ring from Sled and gives it to Graavor and takes the ring of teleportation from the body of Tal. They try and figure out what to do with Sled. When he wakes up Kyrixes tries talking to him and Sled just blows him off as if nothing happened. Further investigation of the room reveals a discolored tile on the floor. When it’s opened a rancid stench wafts up from below. Sled in his impertinence, dumps Tal’s body down the hole. The group decides to rest here before continuing below. The hole leads down about 100 feet and at the bottom is a bronze banded door that upon closer inspection is revealed to be trapped both magically and physically. The team of Spritle, Sled and Diro are able to safely disarm the traps and open the door. The floor beyond the door is also trapped so the party asks Sir Reginald to traverse the hallway and look for a switch. As they assumed, the trap was set for living bodies and Sir Reginald was able to pass unmolested. Reginald finds the switch and turns off the trap only to find the portcullis firmly sealed with no visible means to raise it. The quick thinking Spritle uses his mage hand and a mirror and finds the switch on the inside wall facing away from them. In the next room is a sigil on the floor that Diro determines is a blade trap. The party hugs the walls down either side moving forward. As Sled begins looting electrum pieces from a broken urn large tentacles lash out from a large crack in the floor. The tentacles are quickly dispatched and moving forward they party finds themselves in a small room with a fountain. The fountain has what appears to be a small boat in it. Diro, using his arcane abilities, determines that the water and the boat are magical. The always impatient Sled sticks his face in the water and takes a drink. His vision becomes blurry and he sees the spirit forms of his companions. He is able to ask the spirits a question that they have to answer truthfully. Kyrixes grabs the boat and passes it to Diro who realizes it is a magical folding boat. He neglects to tell the rest of the Brotherhood about it and surreptitiously says the command word to fold the boat and sticks it in his pocket. www.birdscoffeecompany.com/ Use Code Legends10 to get 10% off your order! Theme music created by Brett Miller http://www.brettmillermusic.net/ https://beta.podchaser.com/ Use code legendsoftabletop for access and consider leaving us a review

Kyrixes Goldenflame – John Spritle Chudforth – Dan Njorvold Anvilesmite – James Graavor Corgretor - Burt Diro Kalamire – Gabe Sled - Aaron DM – Vince After defeating the skeleton guardians, the party takes a breather. Diro investigates both the frozen area and the sigil on the floor. The sigil is of the deity Zehir and it appears to be non magical. Spritle conjures a fire bolt but it doesn't do anything to the frozen force field. Making little headway Diro goes outside the box and casts destroy water and the frozen area shatters in slow motion, slowly reforming. Just then Spritle remembers that the skeletal guards were standing in the area and asks Sir Reginald to try and traversal the magical trap, which he does successfully. Diro shatters the ice again and Graavor runs through to assist Sir Reginald in lifting the portcullis on the other side of the magic field. Once the rest of the party is safely across, they head down the a set of stairs that lead further into the temple. When they reach the bottom, the undead guards on this level spring to life attempting to bar their passage. The Brotherhood is able to quickly dispatch the skeletons and begin to investigate. Two iron doors seem to be sealed by powerful magics and carry and electric charge.With no other option they continue down. Sled thinks he sees a statue and shoots an arrow at it. At that point the voice of Tal Orvas echoes in the room. Battle is once again enjoined. Will the Brotherhood of the (mostly) Honest Coin prevail..........? www.birdscoffeecompany.com/ Use Code Legends10 to get 10% off your order! Theme music created by Brett Miller http://www.brettmillermusic.net/

Kyrixes Goldenflame – John Spritle Chudforth – Dan Njorvold Anvilesmite – James Graavor Corgretor - Burt Diro Kalamire – Gabe Sled - Aaron DM – Vince Spritle and Graavor search the room underground and the skeleton guardians attack them. Graavor throws Spritle over his shoulder and runs back upstairs hoping the skeletons follow. After waiting a few minutes the skeletons don’t follow so the group decides to head down in force. While battling the skeletons someone triggers a trap and the room slowly begins to fill with gas. Reacting quickly, Diro uses his Gust of Wind spell to push the gas back away from the party. When the battle is over, Sled moves into the room alone to investigate the runes on the floor and discovers the triggering mechanism for the gas trap. He also notices a corridor that slopes down heading further underground. Making their way cautiously around the runes the party moves down the newly discovered corridor. As they round the corner a pair of flaming skeletons confronts them and combat begins anew…… Theme music created by Brett Miller http://www.brettmillermusic.net/ www.birdscoffeecompany.com/ Use use Code Legends10 to get 10% off your order!

Kyrixes Goldenflame – John Spritle Chudforth – Dan Njorvold Anvilesmite – James Diro Kalamire – Gabe Graavor Corgretor - Burt Sled - Aaron DM – Vince The newly incorporated adventuring party, The Brotherhood of the Honest Coin, head over to talk with Spritle’s boss, Mr. Cobblepot. He was able to secure the warehouse and presents the party with the deed. Unfortunately they won’t be moving in right away, as pressing business will be taking them to Neverwinter it seems. Mr. Cobblepot has tasked the Brotherhood with mapping the sewers of Neverwinter, looking into information pertaining to the Dead Rat gang and if feasible, eliminating them. With a sizable advance in hand, the guys make their way back to the Sunburnt Frog for one last night before setting out. While enjoying their downtime, someone notices a tiefling giving them the hairy eyeball. Sled, not known for his subtlety, heads over to find out who he is. It turns out that Grayvor is also heading down to Neverwinter and offers his assistance to the party if they would help him with a task of his own. (achievement unlocked-sidequest) Diro is able to pull a few strings and secures passage for the party on a boat helmed by Captain Marcus. What he fails to tell everyone is that they are expected to work during the trip. Spritle enthusiastically takes to the task. The journey is expected to take about a week but storms hold them up for two days as they sit at anchor in a small lagoon. Upon arriving in Neverwinter the party meets with Spritle’s contact and then rent horses and set off to hunt for Grayvor’s ring. As night begins to fall they stop to make camp and then Sled, Spritle and Grayvor head off to do a little reconnaissance. While making their way through the forest, a voice calls out for help. Moving closer to investigate they find a skeleton in ancient armor who seems to be trapped in the roots of a large tree that fell over in the recent storm. After a quick powwow Sled agrees to help free him and the skeleton introduces himself as Sir Reginald, Paladin of Bahamut. Spritle takes him back to the camp to meet the others. Closer inspection of the area reveals an opening in a small dell, leading underground. Sled stays on overwatch and Grayvor heads back to camp to get the rest of the party so that they can move the camp into the dell. While he’s waiting for the party, Sled investigates further and sees that there are two shattered doors at the cave entrance. It appears that the doors were recently broken down and in cavern is the faint sound of moaning. Planning ahead, Sled pours oils all over the entrance, creating a fiery trap for anything that makes its way out. After the party reunites in the dell, it’s decided to move forward and begin exploring the cave. Theme music created by Brett Miller http://www.brettmillermusic.net/

Kyrixes Goldenflame – John Spritle Chudforth – Dan Njorvold Anvilesmite – James Diro Kalamire – Gabe Sled - Aaron DM – Vince The battle continues, with Sled advocating a strategic withdrawal up the stairs. In the confusion of combat it seems as if the undead creatures are confused and not following their orders to attack. Using his arcane sensibilities, Diro thinks that the undead maybe newly formed and not yet aware of their abilities. The beholder kin falls and Spritle begins to dispatch the ineffectual creatures. Kyrixes moves to inspect the strange jar at the back of the room. Diro wanders over as Kyrixes appears to be having a one-sided conversation as the brain in the jar speaks to him telepathically. Sled disappears into a side room and Njorvold follows him to make sure he doesn’t steal anything from the party. What they find is crates of the necrojuice along with, what appears to be an Iron Maiden, somehow modified to animate the dead. Kyrixes, Diro and Spritle become enthralled by the brain and it convinces them to bring it along with them when they leave. As Kyrixes manhandles (or dragonborn handles) the jar, Diro begins to dismember the beholder kin taking various and sundry parts. Njorvold gives Diro a bottle of the necrojuice and sees Kyrixes walking with the jar and questions him. The brain commands Kyrixes to attack Njorvold but he shakes of the brain’s control over him and Njorvold calls down holy radiance scorching it. The brain engages in some monologuing before releasing Diro and Spritle. The brain claims to be hundreds of years old and that it has been working behind the scenes and is part of a larger cabal. Unable to be in proximity to the brain for fear of coming under it’s mind control, they decide to kill it. Sled finds a secret tunnel behind the altar where the brain was. They hear some skittering in the tunnel so decide to rest up and wait. Eventually they follow the tunnel out and it comes out into another mausoleum which appears to relatively undisturbed. A report is delivered to Spritle’s supervisor and the party negotiates for a charter and the title to the warehouse that was being used by the Dead Rat gang. Theme music created by Brett Miller http://www.brettmillermusic.net/

Kyrixes Goldenflame – John Spritle Chudforth – Dan Njorvold Anvilesmite – James Diro Kalamire – Gabe Sled - Aaron DM – Vince The party rests and recuperates after a grueling battle in the warehouse. Ned has been turned into the authorities and they have asked our intrepid band of adventures to investigate the Neverdeath graveyard. Assuming the easiest access point into the graveyard would be from the southern gate, closest to the docks, they head out. Upon arriving Diro notices purplish drops on the ground, assumed to be necrojuice, near the gate confirming their assumption. Pushing onward through the graveyard they eventually make their way to the main mausoleum, where Kyrixes notices what appears to be flashing lights all around. Calling out a challenge, the party is surprised when a softly glowing orb zips out in response. Lacking a better alternative, Kyrixes offers a tentative greeting to the orb to which it gladly responds. It turns out the orb is a spirit who is unable to move on. It doesn’t remember its name only that it is unable to leave the confines of the city. Further questioning reveals that the orb has seen people coming and going with boxes into the main mausoleum and that the dead have become restless. With nothing better to do the spirit accompanies them into the mausoleum, which upon closer inspection appears to be some kind of chapel. As the party spread out everything seems pretty normal but as Spritle and Kyrixes move towards the altar, the grinding sound of stone on stone greets them as the altar begins to move. A skeleton pops his head out and is greeted with a mighty swing of Kyrixes’s sword. Despite the best efforts of Kyrixes and Spritle the skeleton falls back down the hole with a clatter. A few tense moments pass and when nothing happens they begin to descend the stairs under the altar. The narrow passage leads down to a closed door and when opened reveals a gruesome collection of undead creatures seeming under the control of a beholder kin. Attempts at diplomacy fail as Sled and Diro shoot the creature and battle is joined! Theme music created by Brett Miller http://www.brettmillermusic.net/

Kyrixes Goldenflame – John Spritle Chudforth – Dan Njorvold Anvilesmite – James Diro Kalamire – Gabe Sled - Aaron DM – Vince We pick up this episode in medias res as the fight rages all over the warehouse. Turns out that Ned is appropriately enough, a wererat. Go figure. Kyrixes manages to take him down, keeping him alive and then begins to interrogate the worker. Meanwhile Sled is looting all the bodies and living up to his roguish nature doesn’t share any of the loot. The worker says that the small crates marked with the Dead Rat logo have explosives in them and they are supposed to take them to the graveyard. Further investigation by Njorvold and Spritle reveals that the crates contain wine. Sled plies Ned with some alcohol and is able to gain some new information from him. Ned, drunk and probably concussed, confesses that the wine will wake the dead and that the guy he’s working for is a city worker. Seemingly beset on all side Spritle summons the town watch to give a full report. Ned is taken into custody and the guys try to plan out their next step. Theme music created by Brett Miller www.brettmillermusic.net/

Kyrixes Goldenflame – John Spritle Chudforth – Dan Njorvold Anvilesmite – James Diro Kalamire – Gabe Sled - Aaron DM – Vince The warehouse outside the office is abuzz with activity as thugish men load crates onto waiting wagons. At Sled’s request the group decides to try and take his brother Ned alive if possible. Waiting a few minutes Sled tries to sneak out of the office to get a better vantage point and perhaps do a little assassinating. Rouge’s, am I right? Unfortunately he’s not as stealthy as he thought he was and draws the attention of one of the workers. Ned is quickly alerted and is chagrined by Sled’s sudden appearance and maybe even more so by Spritle when he exits the small office with a stack of forms in his hand. Ever the studious sanitation employee he informs Ned that they have an illegal bolthole in the office and needs to sign forms in triplicate. Nonplussed Ned along with one of his thugs follows Spritle into the office where Njorvold and Kyrixes lie in wait. Kyrixes demands information and to see Ned’s wrist. Sensing that the jig is almost up he flatly refuses but wily little Spritle pulls up his sleeve with a mage hand revealing a Dead Rat Tattoo. Battle quickly commences where yet an even bigger surprise is yet to unfold….. Theme music created by Brett Miller www.brettmillermusic.net/

With the party plunged into darkness by Diro’s quick thinking or lack there of, the party struggles to fight the mage. “Luckily” Diro subsequently lights a torch allowing the group to see and Kyrixes to finish off the mage. After that it’s very little work to dispatch the skeletons with a coordinated effort. They decide to take a long rest in the relative safety of this little room. Investigation of the area and bodies reveals that the mage was also a member of the Dead Rat Gang. Using the wand of secrets that was found on the mage the party discovers a trap door in the ceiling. Spritle climbs up with the aid of Sled and investigates beyond the door. What he finds is that the door opens up into an office and that the office is located in a warehouse. The warehouse is bustling with activity as “workers” load casks onto wagons. Closing the offices outer door, Spritle calls everyone up into the room so they can figure out what to do next. Kyrixes Goldenflame – John Spritle Chudforth – Dan Njorvold Anvilesmite – James Diro Kalamire – Gabe Sled - Aaron DM – Vince Theme music created by Brett Miller http://www.brettmillermusic.net/

Kyrixes Goldenflame – John Spritle Chudforth – Dan Njorvold Anvilesmite – James Diro Kalamire – Gabe DM - Vince With the immediate threat dealt with, the guys regroup and take stock of the situation. Diro performs a little first aid on Spritle to make sure he hasn’t been infected by the rats and gives him an ointment for his burns. Score one for friendly fire. They do become aware of the sound of more of the large diseased rats and decide to draw the rats to them. Blocking the doorway to their area, Kyrixes bangs his sword on his shield and the rats answer the call. Our heroes make quick work of the rats and after a quick inspection of the bodies, claim their tails. Hopefully all that banging didn’t stir up anything else.…..as it turns out it didn’t and the guys continue exploring the sewer, trudging through the fetid waste of Waterdeep. While coming around a section of wall Njorvold hears some faint chanting just as Diro spies some light coming through small cracks in the wall. With the party gathered around what is assumed to be a secret door, Kyrixes spots a worn tile on the floor and Spritle pushes on it with his mage hand. The door slides open to reveal a dry, relatively clean room lit by a large brazier. Perplexed by this strange find Spritle pulls out his municipal maps and checks to see of this room is noted. It seems as if the original cartographers intentionally left this area off the map and the room appears to be as old as this part of the sewer line. Investigating the rest of the area the party finds a fetid pool. As Diro gets closer for a better look he is attacked by a slimy gray pseudopod. Falling back on their adventures training, the first rule of which is - Kill it with fire, Kyrixes pushes over the brazier on it. Unfortunately gray oozes are resistant to fire…..rule one should really come with some sort of addendum. Even still with the odds heavily in their favor the ooze is quickly dispatched. Apparently safe, the crew turns their attention to the heavy door in front of them. It glows with arcane symbols the obvious bane of any wizard…..well at least this wizard as Diro fails at any attempt to intuit the mechanism of their disenchantment. Left with no other choice Njorvold and Kyrixes heave the brazier at the door causing the door to explode with arcane energy. The good news the door is open, the bad news there’s a really pissed off mage on the room and at his feet a slavering Nothic. Oh and a portal but I’m sure everything will be fine…… Theme music created by Brett Millerhttp://www.brettmillermusic.net/

Kyrixes Goldenflame - John Spritle Chudforth - Dan Njorvold Anvilesmite - James Diro Kalamire - Gabe While inspecting the bodies, our intrepid adventures find small, stylized rat tattoos on their assailants. Spritle is pretty sure that these guys are members of the Dead Rat Gang but informs the group that they usually work out of Neverwinter. Njorvold makes a report to the town watch opting to fill out the short form much to Spritle’s dismay. After a few more ales and a bit more discussion about the job the guys turn in with plans to meet at city hall in the morning. It turns out that the area of the sewer in question is the same area that the Dead Rat Gang slunk out of. Spritle heads down the ladder to scout things out and discovers a strange green bioluminescent goo on the bottom rung of the ladder. He takes a sample and lets the others know to watch out for it. With the party reassembled in the sewer Spritle continues scouting out the underground labyrinth. Finding a swarm of regular rats he takes a few potshots at them with his crossbow and garners their ire as they quickly swarm all over him. Drawn by the sound of the fracas, large diseased rats move in to try and claim and easy meal. Theme music created by Brett Miller http://www.brettmillermusic.net/

Kyrixes Goldenflame - John Spritle Chudforth - Dan Njorvold Anvilesmite - James Diro Kalamire - Gabe Session one of our new 5th edition D&D campaign kicks off as most adventures usually do with our adventuring company enjoying a light repast, surprisingly not in a tavern but at an outdoor café. Seems they’re all the rage around Waterdeep, who knew? The topic of conversation turns to the subject of money and more specifically where can they earn more. The ebullient gnome, Spritle, patiently tries to explain that there is a job that he knows of that will pay 200 gold to each person who goes out! The catch…..they have to go down in to the sewers to kill rats, diseased oversized rats. ROUS, if you will. As the party discusses the relative merits of traipsing through the sewers, Kyrixes notices a band of ruffians exiting the sewer in question. They call for Spritle’s head and follow it up with hail of crossbow bolts. Our party accepts the challenge and makes short work of the would-be assassins. Failing to take any prisoners the only clue they find is a small, stylized rat tattoo on each man indicating they are part of the Dead Rat Gang. Coincidence? I say nay! Just as they finish their examination of the bodies the town watch shows up. Theme music created by Brett Miller http://www.brettmillermusic.net/

Guests Emily Yoshida (The Verge) and J.D. Amato (The Chris Gethard Show) make their return to Blank Check to examine 2008’s Speed Racer. But why does everyone on the panel love this movie and disagree with the criticism it received? How was this film ahead of its time? Should racing involve the financial world? Together, they discuss Spritle and Chim-Chim antics, watching sunday morning cartoons, irony, the amazing special effects and so much more!