Podcasts about town criers

On Thursday 8th May there was a service of Remembrance for workers who lost their lives and the vital role of the railway in the Second World War and an unveiling of a commemorative plaque, at the Grade II listed Signal Box at Haslemere Railway Station, organised by the Haslemere Community Station and Signal Box Trust. As Mark Simpson discovered, the box has been in operation since 1895, controlling trains between Petersfield and Farncombe, but will be decommissioned in October. There are plans for the signal box to become a Museum, with a Memorial Garden around it. Here are many of the people who attended the ceremony, which was opened by Haslemere’s Town Crier – Christian Ashdown.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Petersfield’s Mayor, Cllr Lesley Farrow, the Reverend Will Hughes and the Royal British Legion led the celebrations of more than 500 people in the Square. This was the formal ceremony The crowd included a contingent of serving soldiers from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) from Aldershot and school students dressed as evacuees. Julie Butler and Mike Waddington spoke to Rev Will Hughes, David who recalls VE Day in Penns Road in1945, Herne Junior school. Chris Paige from the RBL who was the Parade Marshall and people in the audience. Steve Field from the Salvation Army played the Last Post and Faye Thompson, the Town Crier read the official proclamation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We play Alexis Interprets the Internet, DIRT ALERT: Why SJP was no-show at the Met Gala, myTalk Loves Local: Ugly Deck, and town criers and landlines are HOT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We play Alexis Interprets the Internet, DIRT ALERT: Why SJP was no-show at the Met Gala, myTalk Loves Local: Ugly Deck, and town criers and landlines are HOT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Deputy Mayor of Ventnor , Steph Toogood talks about Armada Day 2025. On May 21, 2025 there will be an event in Ventnor, Isle of Wight to commemorate the anniversary of the Armada's attempted invasion of England in 1588. History books will need to be re-written as a result of research by Ventnor resident David Baldwin over the past fifty years into the course charted by the Spanish Armada off the Isle of Wight in 1588.  There is now an opportunity to correct the misinterpretation of a letter by George Carey, Captain & Governor of the Isle of Wight, written in Carisbrooke Castle on the same day once the Armada had finally disappeared from sight beyond Selsey Bill.  With the battle off Dunnose key to the outcome, the Isle of Wight can now resume its rightful place in Armada history. Ventnor is acknowledging these Armadas, North and South of the Island, with presentation of a special ‘Almirante Recalde' annual competition Cup for bowls matches between Ventnor and Cowes, the first to be played at Ventnor Bowling Club against Plessey Bowls Club of Cowes on Friday morning 23rd May 2025 at ten o'clock. The Fundación Nao Victoria in Andalucia are supporting the Armada Coast 1588 by sending the galleon, Santa Maria from Spain to mount gun-salutes off Ventnor's coastline between St Lawrence and Bonchurch from 2-3pm to mark the opening of the dedicated Coastal and Downs Armada 1588 Heritage Trail on Wednesday 21st May 2025 by Ventnor Town Council, before sailing on to berth at Cowes until the 26th May. School bookings to go aboard Santa Maria in Cowes can be made through contacting Elena Campos at: ecampos@fundacionnaovictoria.org. The event will include a Four-Cannon Salute from the passing Galleon; raising of the Armada Coast 1588 flag, the Town Crier; Bells, Boules & Enactments; and an evening of shanties, sea songs and stories at The Spyglass Inn. , Ventnor For further details about the event, please contact: History enquiries – David Baldwin davidjpbaldwin@hotmail.com Programme enquiries – Cllr Steph Toogood steph.toogood@ventnortowncouncil.org.uk

Neville and Julie HoyPoy - Organisers Moondyne Joe Festival Come along and join in the fun at the FREE to attend Moondyne Festival held annually in Toodyay township. Everyone is encouraged to dress in pioneer period costume…come as a floozie, swaggie or street urchin. Or wax up and enter the fabulous Moustache Competition! The legend of Moondyne Joe, the Avon Valley’s legendary bushranger transforms the picturesque historical town of Toodyay, Western Australia into a lively all day festival, the highlight of the day being the re-enactment of Moondyne Joe’s various escapades throughout the town, his arrests and mock trials. Join in the fun with Moondyne Joe as he runs around town, robbing shops, escaping custody and being a general menace. Cheer on Joe’s gang, ‘floozies’, coppers, swaggies and the Town Crier. Toodyay Sunday 4th May 9am to about 4pmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Play-Play King Mini Series   Social media has become both a revolutionary tool that has brought the mass public together in ways that humanity has never seen before and a destructive weapon that political extremists have used to divide the general public. With the expansion of social media's influence in society and politics comes the unfortunate rise of misinformation, disinformation, and fake “news” sources.

The Play-Play King Mini Series Social media has become both a revolutionary tool that has brought the mass public together in ways that humanity has never seen before and a destructive weapon that political extremists have used to divide the general public. With the expansion of social media's influence in society and politics comes the unfortunate rise of misinformation, disinformation, and fake “news” sources.

Bramshott and Liphook Parish Council are looking for a Town Crier to proclaim to residents. Auditions take place on 23 April. It’s an unpaid role but they will provide the livery the dress code requires. It will bring benefits says Town Clerk, Jane Sawyer, and Deputy Geraldine Sheedy, who spoke to Mike Waddington. More at Bramshott & Liphook Parish Council – Serving the people of Bramshott & Liphook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Town Crier Twenty Years Ago

In the local news today, we have an update on Pulens Lane and Heath Road East improvements. There are a couple of anniversaries with the Dementia Choir celebrating a five-year milestone and out Town Crier celebrates two years in the job. Finally, and we have a roundup of local job opportunities. To share your news email team@shineradio.uk or call 01730 555 500.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the local news today, we have an update on Pulens Lane and Heath Road East improvements. There are a couple of anniversaries with the Dementia Choir celebrating a five-year milestone and out Town Crier celebrates two years in the job. Finally, and we have a roundup of local job opportunities. To share your news email team@shineradio.uk or call 01730 555 500.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Faye Thompson, Petersfield's Town Crier, has completed two years in the role. The position is official - appointed by Petersfield Town Council - but unpaid (with a honorarium of £300 a year towards their costs, including buying the Livery). She promotes Petersfield and with her Deputy, husband Martin, has appeared at 50 or so events in the 12 months. She speaks about the role and what she enjoys and also talks about the formal. ceremonial role. Faye and Martin have also just appeared in a book - they wrote the forward. FAye spoke to Mike Waddington.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shine Radio's Laura Sheppard directed this production of the Titfield Thunderbolt, a play about rescuing a discontinued train line against fierce and nefarious opposition - actually quite topical. It's at the Half Moon's performance space so the set is sparse and relies on costume and make up, people acting as scenery and sound effects! and it works really well! Mike Waddington spoke to Robert Sheppard who ran the sound effects desk, and he demonstrates some of the hand held devices like the 'cabasa' and the 'acquaphone'; Faye Thompson, the Town Crier, who assists, plays her favourites. Mike also spoke to Kate Gardner, who played Mr Ruddock, the Minister of Transport. The Titfield Thunderbolt runs at the Half Moon in Sheet till Saturday 30 November.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's performance is for the Signal Corps in the Sunny South where troops are stationed in the Ozarks of Southern Missouri. Kay jokes about the local culture of the Ozarks.…

The award winning Sage & Salt Studio has officially opened it's first artisan Christmas shop with the help of Petersfield's Mayor and Town Crier. The gloriously decorated grotto is filled with hundreds of handmade crafts from over 70 local artists and makers, there is everything from ornaments and decorations to blankets and mugs and so much more. Studio owner Sarah-Jane Beacher says she hopes to bring Christmas sparkle to the town and to encourage people to shop local and support independent businesses this Christmas. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Town Crier - Twenty Years Ago

Episode 276: 10/15/24 This week's highlight includes NOODS, self sabotage, and Town Crier! The Best of the Morning Shag with Shags and Trevor 5:30a to 10a on 96.7 KCMQ Classic Rock in Mid-Missouri.

This week: New Bedford celebrates an expanded port. Questions surround offshore turbine blades being shipped back to France. And: Hear ye, hear ye! Town criers from the US and beyond gather in Provincetown.

For 50 years, the United Church of Underhill's Old Fashioned Harvest Market has welcomed scores of visitors. And James Morris has been there most of that time — his voice booming over the hubbub.

I look back on our Reveal videos over the years before playing Testing Dummy Warrior on the ladder. You can find the deck import code below the following contact links.  Join our Discord community here or at discord.me/blisterguy. You can follow me @blisterguy or the podcast @walktoworkHS on twitter. Subscribe to my Youtube channel. You can support this podcast and my other Hearthstone work at Patreon here. # 2x (1) Garrosh's Gift # 2x (1) Town Crier # 1x (2) Instrument Tech # 2x (2) Needlerock Totem # 2x (2) Shield Block # 2x (3) Boom Wrench # 2x (3) New Heights # 1x (3) Tortollan Traveler # 2x (3) Wreck'em and Deck'em # 2x (5) Carnivorous Cubicle # 2x (5) Chemical Spill # 1x (6) Hamm, the Hungry # 2x (6) Testing Dummy # 1x (7) Marin the Manager # 2x (7) Sleep Under the Stars # 2x (8) Hydration Station # 1x (8) Inventor Boom # 1x (0) Zilliax Deluxe 3000 #   1x (0) Zilliax Deluxe 3000 #   1x (4) Virus Module #   1x (5) Perfect Module #  AAECAe+VBwa4xQXHpAaTqAakuwa6wQb6yQYMjtQEnJ4Gj6gGkKgGkqgGlKgG7KkG1boG0MoG88oGiuIG5OYGAAED9LMGx6QG97MGx6QG6N4Gx6QGAAA=

It's no secret that this podcast skews towards the big cities of this country, mostly those on the Eastern Seaboard. In fact, most podcasts in general favour the big cities. Kirsten Diprose and Damian Callinan are doing their bit to change that with their brand new podcast: Town Criers. She's a journalist and and he's a comedian and together they are sharing the driving on a road trip through rural Australia, to reveal everything worth celebrating about small country towns. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-saturday-quiz. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What an unforgettable day of golf-watching at The Open and Andy and Brendan are giddy to talk about a day that sorted the contenders and pretenders as we head to the final round of men's major championship golf. They discuss the absolutely brutal conditions at Royal Troon that punished the final groups coming in and left the Baton Boy, the Town Crier himself, Billy Horschel sitting in the solo 54-hole lead. They discuss Scottie Scheffler's maddening day, Shane Lowry's pouty way to the finish, and the full slate of contenders and pretenders for Sunday. There's a course check-in on another day that is extracting all the traits that should be needed to win a major before they toss in a few more Games Within The Game for the final day.

Deeter asks for Dexter's help after a dog starts airing the complaints of the dogs of New York City on his street. All day, all night. And, all the dogs of the city are sad. Everyone is down. Can Dexter find the Town Crier and stop the complaining?

Lucy Sante is the author of “Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York,” “The Other Paris,” and many other works. Her latest book, “I Heard Her Call My Name,” is a memoir that examines her life through the lens of gender and details her decision to transition from “Luc” to “Lucy”  in her 60s.  Hannah Brooks is an organizer of Beacon LitFest and a former surgeon. She had an Orthodox Jewish upbringing in Queens, and as a child and young adult grappled with her mother's bipolar disorder. She moved to Beacon a few years ago and is an organizer of Beacon LitFest among other local happenings.  As an extension of this year's LitFest, Hannah and Lucy will discuss Lucy's new book during an event at The Town Crier on June 20. More info here.

It's Friday! And heading into a holiday weekend no less! Andy and Brendan are bubbly due to the circumstances. They're also eager to talk about Andy's big day with Blockie and his experience playing in the Colonial Pro-Am. There are some amusing details from the day, like his movements in player dining with big Jay nearby, an encounter with the Town Crier himself, and his time on the course with The Showman. Then they get to the news of Louisville releasing the video footage they have of the Scottie Scheffler arrest and incident, and some of the misguided coverage around it. They hit on the women's NCAA finals, U.S. Open qualifying names who got through this week, a new LIV venue in the USA, and a Senior PGA game within the game. They close it out with an SGS Golf Advice on a curious range encounter with none other than Omar Uresti his ownself.

1 - From Alpha to Omega - Harry Babbitt with Kay Kyser and his Orchestra – 19382 - E-String Rag - Hank Garland - 19513 - G-String Boogie – Frank Nelson with Alvino Rey and his Orchestra – 19484 - Alphabet Song - Murray K. Hill - 19095 - K-K-K-Katy - Billy Murray – 19186 - Alpha March - Arthur Pryor's Band - 19127 - L-L-L-L-A - Mae Williams and the Town Criers with Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra – 19478 - I Can't Give You Anything but Love (And the Alphabet) - Tommy Mercer with Buddy Morrow and his Orchestra - 19509 - N Everything - Al Jolson – 191710 - The ABCs of the USA - Miss Jones and Mr Murray - 190811 - O Death, Where Is Thy Sting? - Bert Williams – 191912 - Qua Qua Qua - Carlos Galhardo - 194513 - A You're Adorable (The Alphabet Song) - The Buddy Kaye Quintet – 194814 – V-Day Stomp - The Four Clefs - 194515 - W. P. A. - Bon Bon with Jan Savitt and His Orchestra – 194016 - ABC Blues - Ricky Jordan and the Vivien Gary Trio – 1947

Demon Hunter needs to be nerfed, but how? and playing Highlander Warrior on the ladder. You can find the deck import code below the following contact links.  Join our Discord community here or at discord.me/blisterguy. You can follow me @blisterguy or the podcast @walktoworkHS on twitter. Subscribe to my Youtube channel. You can support this podcast and my other Hearthstone work at Patreon here. # 1x (1) Garrosh's Gift # 1x (1) Shield Slam # 1x (1) Slam # 1x (1) Town Crier # 1x (2) Bash # 1x (2) Bladestorm # 1x (2) Blast Charge # 1x (2) Dirty Rat # 1x (2) Kobold Miner # 1x (2) Needlerock Totem # 1x (2) Safety Goggles # 1x (2) Shield Block # 1x (2) Stoneskin Armorer # 1x (3) Bellowing Flames # 1x (3) Reinforced Plating # 1x (3) Rustrot Viper # 1x (3) Steam Guardian # 1x (4) Craftsman's Hammer # 1x (4) E.T.C., Band Manager #   1x (1) Armor Vendor #   1x (2) Dirty Rat #   1x (3) Gaslight Gatekeeper # 1x (4) Ignis, the Eternal Flame # 1x (5) Aftershocks # 1x (5) Burrow Buster # 1x (5) Sanitize # 1x (6) Deepminer Brann # 1x (6) Trial by Fire # 1x (7) Badlands Brawler # 1x (8) Boomboss Tho'grun # 1x (8) Inventor Boom # 1x (8) Reno, Lone Ranger # 1x (0) Zilliax Deluxe 3000 #   1x (0) Zilliax Deluxe 3000 #   1x (4) Twin Module #   1x (5) Perfect Module #  AAECAePJBh6GoASJoASO1ASQ1AT9xAW0+AWQ+wWX+wWh+wWk+wXYgQaFggbKgwbQgwaSjgbCkQaLlAb3lwbomAacngafngbNngbRngaHoAbHpAaTqAavqAbsqQbQsAbk5gYAAAEGmp4G/cQFz54G/cQF0Z4G/cQF9bMGx6QG97MGx6QG6N4Gx6QGAAA=

The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast #655 is the cat's meow! Subscribe now! Telenn Tri, Tradify, Patsy O'Brien, Toby Bresnahan, Derek Warfield & The Young Wolfe Tones, The Dustbunnies, Ian Fontova, CaliCeltic, La famille LeBlanc, Olivia Bradley, River Driver, Ida Elena, Stout Pounders, Roehind, The Irish Rovers GET CELTIC MUSIC NEWS IN YOUR INBOX The Celtic Music Magazine is a quick and easy way to plug yourself into more great Celtic culture. Enjoy seven weekly news items for Celtic music and culture online. Subscribe now and get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free. VOTE IN THE CELTIC TOP 20 FOR 2024 This is our way of finding the best songs and artists each year. You can vote for as many songs and tunes that inspire you in each episode. Your vote helps me create next year's Best Celtic music of the yeear episode. You have just three weeks to vote this year. Vote Now! You can follow our playlist on Spotify to listen to those top voted tracks as they are added every 2 - 3 weeks. It also makes it easier for you to add these artists to your own playlists. You can also check out our Irish & Celtic Music Videos THIS WEEK IN CELTIC MUSIC 0:06 - Telenn Tri "The Cat's Meow set" from The Cat's Meow 5:37 - WELCOME 7:51 - Tradify "The Rolling Wave, Craig's Pipes" from Take Flight 10:58 - Patsy O'Brien "Jack 'Brien" from Onward 15:55 - Toby Bresnahan "Man in the Bog  -  Drummond Castle" from All In Good time 18:15 - Derek Warfield & The Young Wolfe Tones "Home Boys Home" from Let the Free Birds Fly 22:32 - FEEDBACK 25:10 - The Dustbunnies "Gillingham Ramshire" from What Goes Around 29:43 - Ian Fontova "Woods of Anam" from Tales of Olden, Vol. 2 31:44 - CaliCeltic "Cold Beer" from Whiskey Mustache 33:39 - La famille LeBlanc "Fille que moi" from New/Nouveau - Perdrais - je mon temps...(Would I be losing my time...) 37:38 - Olivia Bradley "Misty Morning Shore" from Misty Morning Shore 41:53 - THANKS 43:46 - River Driver "Home" from Flanagan's Shenanigans! Live at The Celt 47:16 - Ida Elena "Wild" from Wild 50:12 - Stout Pounders "White Crosses (Live)" from Liver Let Live [Explicit] 54:23 - Roehind "Dheannain Sugradh" from Buile Pron. Dheannain Sugradh = Yeh - neen sah - crah 57:40 - CLOSING 59:03 - The Irish Rovers "The Girl Down the Lane" from No End in Sight 1:03:34 - CREDITS The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast was produced by Marc Gunn, The Celtfather and our Patrons on Patreon. The show was edited by Mitchell Petersen with Graphics by Miranda Nelson Designs. Visit our website to follow the show. You'll find links to all of the artists played in this episode. Todd Wiley is the editor of the Celtic Music Magazine. Subscribe to get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free. Plus, you'll get 7 weekly news items about what's happening with Celtic music and culture online. Best of all, you will connect with your Celtic heritage. Please tell one friend about this podcast. Word of mouth is the absolute best way to support any creative endeavor. Finally, remember. Reduce, reuse, recycle, and think about how you can make a positive impact on your environment. Promote Celtic culture through music at http://celticmusicpodcast.com/. WELCOME THE IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC PODCAST * Helping you celebrate Celtic culture through music. I am Marc Gunn. This podcast is here to build a diverse Celtic community and help the incredible artists who so generously share their music with you. If you hear music you love, please email artists to let them know you heard them on the Irish and Celtic Music Podcast. Musicians depend on your generosity to keep making music. So please find a way to support them. Buy a CD, Album Pin, Shirt, Digital Download, or join their communities on Patreon. You can find a link to all of the artists in the shownotes, along with show times, when you visit our website at celticmusicpodcast.com. If you are a Celtic musician or in a Celtic band, then please submit your band to be played on the podcast. You don't have to send in music or an EPK. You will get a free eBook called Celtic Musicians Guide to Digital Music and learn how to follow the podcast. It's 100% free. Just email Email follow@bestcelticmusic and of course, listeners can learn how to subscribe to the podcast and get a free music - only episode. ABOUT THE NEW ADS IN THE PUBLIC FEED If you've been listening to the show over the last couple of weeks, you will have noticed something new to the show. Ads placed at the beginning and ending of each episode. The show has been published regularly for almost 19 years with very few ads, outside of those for my Celtic Invasion Vacations and Patreon. I'll be honest. I'm not a huge fan of advertising…or corporations in general. And I'm still deciding whether I'm gonna continue having ads in the show. The fact is that this podcast costs a decent amount to produce as I'll tell you about later. We've built something incredible here. We have a large number of Patrons of the Podcast who support this show each and every week. It's mind - blowing the amount of support this show gets. But it doesn't cover all of my expenses. And there's so much more I'd like to do to reach more Celtic music fans, which requires money. This would be one way to help us grow our podcast. So if you don't like those ads, please become a Patron of the Podcast, because they are not included in any of the Patreon shows. THANK YOU PATRONS OF THE PODCAST! You are amazing. It is because of your generosity that you get to hear so much great Celtic music each and every week. Your kindness pays for our engineer, graphic designer, Celtic Music Magazine editor, promotion of the podcast, and allows me to buy the music I play here. It also pays for my time creating the show each and every week. As a patron, you get music - only episodes before regular listeners, vote in the Celtic Top 20, stand - alone stories, and you get a private feed to listen to the show. You get it all, without those ads at the beginning and end of the regular episodes. All that for as little as $1 per episode. A special thanks to our Celtic Legends: Bill Mandeville, Marti Meyers, Brenda, Karen DM Harris, Emma Bartholomew, Dan mcDade, Carol Baril, Miranda Nelson, Nancie Barnett, Kevin Long, Gary R Hook, Lynda MacNeil, Kelly Garrod, Annie Lorkowski, Shawn Cali HERE IS YOUR THREE STEP PLAN TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST Go to our Patreon page. Decide how much you want to pledge every week, $1, $5, $25. Make sure to cap how much you want to spend per month. Keep listening to the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast to celebrate Celtic culture through music. You can become a generous Patron of the Podcast on Patreon at SongHenge.com. TRAVEL WITH CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS Every year, I take a small group of Celtic music fans on the relaxing adventure of a lifetime. We don't see everything. Instead, we stay in one area. We get to know the region through its culture, history, and legends. You can join us with an auditory and visual adventure through podcasts and videos. Learn more about the invasion at http://celticinvasion.com/ #celticmusic #irishmusic #celticmusicpodcast I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK What are you doing today while listening to the podcast? Please email me. I'd love to see a  picture of what you're doing while listening or of a band that you saw recently. Email me at follow@bestcelticmusic. Sherron Sloan emailed a photo from St Augustine Celtic Festival: "Marc, you've  got to check out the St. Augustine Celtic festival sometime. That's where I first heard the Gothard sisters! It is such a fun weekend." Ryan Weyls emailed some photos: "Hi Marc, I've attached photos from a pair of shows I went to this weekend: Dàimh at the Town Crier in Beacon, NY and Derek Warfield and the Young Wolfe Tones at the Rambling House in the Bronx. The lighting at Rambling House was a bit harsh and didn't agree with my phone, so I've only included two photos. Both bands sounded excellent. I might be checking out the other version of the Wolfe Tones (the one led by Derek's brother) later this week and will send photos if I make it. Thanks for your wonderful podcast. Tim Hughes emailed photos from the Madison WI Shamrock Shuffle: "Had to listen to I&CMP during the run! Before and after pictures."

Hear Ye, Hear Ye, the Blab Rats Boys are back with another banger. Have you heard of Medieval times? The olden days?  Well, this week Host and Producer unveil a a recording of one nights worth of town crying in an old english kingdom.  Amazing to see how little some things have changed. 

Send us a Text Message.As the clocks ticked down to midnight on December 31st, 1999, as each final second of the last millennium slipped away, people all over the world collectively held their breath. If all the hype was to be believed, if the Y2K threats were real, their New Years merrymaking - the fireworks, the champagne, the confetti - might all come crashing down amidst terror and chaos, the apocalypse. Would the power go out? Would planes fall out of the sky? Would there be some giant explosion? What was going to happen? There was only one way to find out. [count down audio]. And then… nothing. Nothing happened. In the decades since, Y2K or the “Millennium Bug” has been dismissed as nothing more than a hoax, media hype gone way too far. But did you know, the threat was more real than many of us realize? Let's fix that. Check out Peter's podcast Y2K: An Autobiography for more! www.historyfixpodcast.comSources: Y2K: An Autobiography podcast by Peter de JagerNational Geographic "Y2K Bug"National Museum of American History "Y2K"Time Magazine "20 Years Later the Y2K Bug Seems Like a Joke - Because Those Behind the Scenes Took It Seriously"The Guardian "The Millennium Bug Was Real"The Washington Post "Lessons of Y2K, 20 Years Later"Forbes "Apocalypse Then: When Y2K Didn't Lead to the End of Civilization"The Conversation "If you think the millennium bug was a hoax, here comes a history lesson"Computerworld "Some Key Facts and Events in Y2K History"Computerworld "Have we learned nothing from Y2K?"New York Post "Y2K Bug Was Real..."The New York Times "The Town Crier for the Year 2000"Support the show! Buy Me a CoffeeVenmo @Shea-LaFountaine

Here are the Top Morning Shag Moments of 2023 as voted on by YOU! It includes Classified Documents, Steaks at Springfield Strip Clubs, Town Crier, Cult of Shags, and so much more! You all are the best! Thank you for an awesome 2023!

Hello hello! Today I've got for you another between-season bonus episode. This time we're breaking format to talk about i know the end, a module I published earlier this year about going back home after a long time away and all the horrors that entails. Because if you can't occasionally publish something self-indulgent in your podcast feed, what's even the point of having one?My cohost for this is my friend Nico MacDougall, the current organizer of The Awards, who edited i know the end and had almost as much to say about it as I did.For maximum understanding of this episode, you can pick up a free copy of the module here and follow along (or skim it in advance).Further reading:The original i know the end cover artThe “oops all PBTA moves” version of i know the endThree of my short filmsMy previous written designer commentaries on Space Train Space Heist and CouriersJohn Harper talking with Andrew Gillis about the origins of Blades in the DarkThe official designer commentary podcasts for Spire and HeartAaron Lim's An Altogether Different River, which comes with a designer commentary versionCamera Lucida by Roland Barthes, a photography theory book that we talked about during recording but which I later cut because I remembered most of the details about it incorrectlyWhat Is Risograph Printing, another topic cut from the final recording because I got basically everything about it wrong while recording (the background texture of the module is a risograph printed texture)Before Sunrise by Richard LinklaterQuestionable Content by Jeph JacquesSocials:Nico's carrd page, which includes links to their socials, editing rates, and The Awards.Sam on Bluesky, Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.The Dice Exploder logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!Transcript:Sam: Hello and welcome to Dice Exploder. Normally each week we take a tabletop RPG mechanic, bait our lines with it, and cast them out to see, to see what we can catch. But you hear that different intro music? That means this episode I'm doing something much more self indulgent, a designer commentary on a module I released earlier this year called I Know the End.And just a heads up here at the top, to get the most out of this, you probably want to have at least read through the module in question before, or as, you're listening. I threw a bunch of free copies up on itch for exactly this purpose, so feel free to go run and grab one. I'll wait.Anyway, I love designer commentaries. You can find a few of my old written ones, as well as links to a few of my favorites from other people, in the show notes. But I wanted to try releasing one as a podcast, because one, that sounds fun, and two, what's the point of having a podcast feed if you can't be ridiculously self indulgent in it on occasion?And I picked I Know The End to talk about because it is... weird. I don't know. It's weird. I describe it on itch as a short scenario about returning home and all the horrors that entails. But you'll hear us take issue with, I don't know, maybe every word in that sentence over the course of this commentary. It was a strange experience to make this thing, and I figured that might be interesting to hear about.It was also the first time I ever worked with an editor Nico MacDougall my friend and the organizer behind The Awards since 2023. Nico was excellent to work with and you can find their rates and such in the show notes and they are with me today to talk through this thing in excruciating detail as you probably noticed from the runtime we had a lot to say. Definitely contracted two guys on a podcast disease. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. But regardless, I'd love to hear what you think of it. Should I do more? Never again? Want to organize the Dice Exploder Game Jam we mused about doing at the end of this? Hit me up! I'd love to hear from you. And now, here is myself, I guess, and Nico MacDougall, with a full designer's commentary on I Know The End.Nico: Well, Sam, thanks for being here on your podcast to discuss your... adventure.Sam: You're welcome.Nico: Yes.Sam: for having me.Nico: Very first question is adventure: is that really, like, the right term for this?Sam: Are we really starting here? Like, I, I don't know. I, I feel like I got, I really went into this thing with true intentions to write a proper module, you know? Like I was thinking about OSR style play for like the first time in my life, and like, we were both coming out of the awards 2022 judging, and a lot of the submissions for 2022 the Awards were modules. I thought that was great but it really was sort of like opening the floodgates of this style of play that I knew basically nothing about. And, at the same time that we were reading through all 200 submissions for the awards, I was also reading Marcia B's list of 100 OSR blog posts of some influence.And so I was really drinking from the fire hose of this style of play, and also, I wasn't playing any of it. Like, I was experimenting with Trophy Gold a little bit, which is this story game that is designed to try to play OSR modules and dungeons as, like, a story game kind of experience. And I was kind of figuring out how it works and like how I wanted to run it and how to make it go And Joe DeSimone, who was running the awards at the time was just encouraging everyone to make weirder shit and like, that was his ethos and those were the people that he got to submit to the awards. Like, it was just the weirdest stuff that I had ever read in the RPG space and... That's probably a lie. There's some weird stuff out there.It was just like so much weird stuff. It was like stuff on the bleeding edge of a whole side of the hobby that I didn't participate in in the first place. My intro to this part of the hobby was the bleeding edge of it. And I was like, alright, I, I just wanna make something there, I wanna try playing around there and see what happens.And Joe tweeted out the tweet was like, Now we're all making modules based on songs that make us cry. And I was listening to the Phoebe Bridgers album Punisher on loop at the time to inspire a screenplay I was working on. And the last track is called I Know the End, and just ends with this, primal scream.And it was, it was a hard fall for me, at the time. And the primal scream felt really cathartic. And I was spending a lot of time in the, small town where I grew up. And, this horror monster idea of a town that is, itself, an entity and like is a whole monster, and like, what does that mean exactly? I don't know, but intuitively, I like, understand it, and we're just gonna kind of drive... towards my intuitive understanding of what this thing is supposed to be. I just decided to do that and see what happened. And did that give us an adventure in the end? I don't know. Did that give us a 32 page long bestiary entry in the form of a module? Like, that sounds closer to right to me, but also, taxonomies are a lie and foolish anyways.I don't know, I made a weird thing, here it is. Nico: Yeah. So I was scrolling back in our, in our conversation to where you first shared this with me, and I... I would like to share with the audience the text that accompanied it. It was the Google Doc, and then it said, This might be completely unplayable, it might actually be a short story, or, like, a movie, but I'm gonna publish it anyway, and, you know... If that isn't exactly it, like...Sam: Yeah I like that stuff. I don't know, another thing I've been thinking about a lot this fall is writing by stream of consciousness. Like, I realized that I don't have a lot of confidence in any of my work that I feel like I created quickly. Like, the RPG thing I'm most well known for, I think, is Doskvol Breathes, which I just pumped out in an afternoon. It was just a thought that I had on a whim about how you might play blades in the dark maybe. And I finished it and then I released it and people were like, this is amazing. And I still get complimented on it all the time. I'm still really proud of it, but it, I don't have any confidence in it because it came so quickly.And, like, I know that this is something I need to, like, talk about in therapy, you know, about, like, It's not real art unless I worked on it for six months straight, like, really worked my ass off. But this process, I sort of looked back over my career as a screenwriter, as a short filmmaker, as a game designer, and started realizing just how many of my favorite things that I've made came from exactly that process of the whole idea kind of coming together all at once in like one sitting. And even if it then took like a bunch of months of like refining like it's wild to me How much of my favorite work was created by following my intuition, and then just leaving it be afterwards.Nico: Yeah, I actually did want to ask about the similarity between your, like, process for TTRPG design versus screenwriting, cause... While I have read, you know, edited this, but also, like, read your your game design work and know relatively well your thoughts on, like, you know, just game design sort of theory and stuff in general, I have never read any, like, screenwriting stuff that you've done. Although, lord knows I hope to see it someday. Sam: Well, listen, if anyone listening to this wants to read my screenplays, I'm on Discord. You can find me and I'll happily share them all. My old short films are largely available on the internet, too. You know, maybe I'll link a couple in the show notes.Nico: oh yeah,Sam: But I I think of my process for screenwriting as really, really structural.Like, I, I'm a person who really came out of needing a plot and needing to know what happens in a story, and to really especially need to know the ending of a story so I know kind of what I'm going towards as I'm writing the thing. I outline like really extensively before I write feature or a pilot, like there's so much planning you have to do, I think it is really, really hard to write any kind of screenplay and not have to revise it over and over and over again, or at least like plan really carefully ahead of time and like really think about all the details, revise a lot, run it by a lot of people for feedback over and over. But especially for me that, that having an ending, like a target in mind when I'm writing is so important. I just don't know how to do it without that.Except occasionally when I get some sort of idea like this one where I have a feeling of vibe and I just start writing that thing and then eventually it's done. And I, I've never had that happen for a feature film screenplay or like a TV pilot kind of screenplay.But I have had a couple of short films come together that way where I don't know what the thing is, I just know what I am writing right now, and then it's done, and then I go make it. And I I don't know why that happens sometimes. Nico: Yeah, I mean I would imagine length plays a factor in it, right? Like a short film, or, I mean, gosh, how many pages did I know the end, end, end up being? Sam: 36. Nico: But I find that really fascinating that, too, that you say that when you're screenwriting, you have to have it really structural, really outlined, an end specifically in mind, when, to me, that almost feels like, well, not the outlining part, but having an end in mind feels almost antithetical to even the idea of, like, game design, or, I guess, TTRPG design, right?Even the most sort of relatively pre structured, Eat the Reich, Yazeeba's Bed and Breakfast, like, Lady Blackbird games, where the characters are pretty well defined before any human player starts interacting with them, you can never know how it's going to end. And it's kind of almost against the idea of the game or the, the sort of art form as a whole to really know that.Even games that are play to lose, like, there are many games now where it's like, you will die at the end. And it's like, okay, but like, that's not really the actual end. Like, sure, it's technically the end, but it's like, we have no idea what's gonna be the moment right before that, or the moment before that. As opposed to screenwriting Sam: yeah, it's a, it's a really different medium. I still think my need to have a target in mind is something that is really true about my game design process too.Like the other game that I'm well known for, well known for being relative here, but is Space Train Space Heist, where I was like, I have a very clear goal, I want to run a Blades in the Dark as a one shot at Games on Demand in a two hour slot. And Blades in the Dark is not a game that is built to do that well, so I want to make a game that is built to do that well, but like, captures everything about the one shot Blades in the Dark experience that I think is good and fun .And that may not be a sort of thematic statement kind of ending, like that's what I'm kind of looking for when I'm writing a screenplay, but that is a clear goal for a design of a game.Nico: Yeah. even In the context of I know the end, and to start talking a little bit about my role in this as well, as, as the editor, I think the point of view, the vibe, the, like, desired sort of aesthetic end point Was very clear from the start, from the jump. And I think that in many ways sort of substitutes for knowing the end of the story in your screenwriting process.So that really helped when I was editing it by focusing on like, okay, here's the pitch. How can I help sort of whittle it down or enhance it or change stuff in order to help realize that goal.And sometimes it kind of surprises me even, like, how much my games shift and change as they reach that goal. Like, sometimes you can, like, look back at old versions of it, and you're like, wow, so little of this is still present. But, like, you can see the throughline, very sort of Ship of Theseus, right? Like, you're like, wow, everything has been replaced, and yet, it's, like, still the thing that I wanted to end up at.Sam: Yeah, another thing that is, I think, more true of my screenwriting process than my game design process is how very common that in the middle of the process I will have to step back and take stock of what was I trying to do again? Like, what was my original goal? I've gotten all these notes from a lot of different people and, like, I've done a lot of work and I've found stuff that I like.And what was I trying to do? Like, I have, all this material on the table now, I have, like, clay on the wheel, and, like, I just gotta step back and take a break and refocus on, like, what are we trying to do. I Think it's really important to be able to do that in any creative process.To Tie together a couple of threads that we've talked about here, talked at the beginning of this about how much this felt like a stream of consciousness project for me, that I really just like, dumped this out and then like, let it rip.But also, I mean, this was my first time working with an editor, and I think you did a lot of work on this to make it way better, like really polish it up and make those edges the kind of pointy that they wanted to be, that this game really called for. And that makes this, in some ways, both a really unstructured process for me, and then a really structured process, and... I don't know what to make of that. I think there's something cool about having both of those components involved in a process. Nico: Yeah, it is. I I very much agree that like, yeah, most of my sort of design stuff have, has proceeded very much the same way of just kind of like sporadically working on it, changing stuff, like revamping it, whatever. And it's like, it's sort of, yeah, in a constant state of fluxx up until the moment where I'm like, okay, I guess it's done now.What I was gonna say, I was gonna jump back just a point or two which is you mentioned Clayton Notestein's Explorer's Design Jam. And I was curious, like, what was your experience, like, using that design template? Sam: Yeah I really enjoyed it, I really had a good time with it. I had already gotten really comfortable with InDesign just teaching myself during lockdown. Like, that's what I did for 2020, was I, like, laid out a bunch of games myself and they all looked like shit, but they all taught me how to use InDesign as a program.And I think templates are really, really valuable. Like it's so much easier to reconfigure the guts of another template than it is to create something from scratch.And I like Clayton's template. I think it's nice and clean. I think you can see in all the publications that have come out using Clayton's template, how recognizable it is. How little most people stray from the bones of it, and on the one hand, I think it's amazing that you can just use the template and go really quickly and like, get something out.And also I just want to push on it a little bit more. I want something, like the template is designed to be a template. It is not a suit tailored to whatever your particular project is. But also, I think if I had tried to lay this out without a template, it would look substantially worse, and there are a few notable breaks here and there that I, you know, I enjoyed experimenting with. I like the use of the comments column for little artwork. I think that was a nice little innovation that I added.And, you know, I didn't write this originally to have that sort of commentary column as a part of it. Like, all of the text was just in the main body of it. And I like the way it turned out to have that sort of, like, director's commentary thing hanging out in the wings. lot of people have talked about how much they like that in Clayton's template. so I, I don't know, like I, think that on the one hand a template really opens up a lot of possibilities for a lot of people and really opened up a lot of possibilities for me, and on the other hand I do still look at it and I see the template And I'm like, I hope this doesn't look too much like every other person whoNico: Right, right. I mean, that is definitely the difficulty of providing those kinds of tools, because like, it makes it very easy to make things especially if you're sort of just getting started, or if you don't have a lot of confidence or familiarity with it inDesign or anything like that. But ultimately, I feel like Clayton himself would say that the Explorer's Design Template is not intended to be, like, the final template, right? It's intended to be, like, a tool that you can use to varying effects, right?Yeah, I was thinking about it when I was going through this earlier, and I was like, Oh, yeah, like, you only use the comments, column a few times, and then I literally only realized maybe five minutes before you said it, I was like, oh, wait, all the little artwork is also in that little column thing, like you just said, and I was like, oh, that's like, that's actually a really cool way to use the template, because that space is already provided if you include that column, but just because you have the column that's, you know, quote unquote, intended for commentary, doesn't mean you have to use it for commentary, doesn't mean you have to put text in there.Sam: Yeah, you definitely like learn a lot of stuff about the guts of the thing as you start playing with it.Nico: Yeah. is probably getting on the level of, like, pretty pointless, sort of what ifs, but I'm curious... If Clayton hadn't done the Explorer's Design Template Jam, or if you had, for whatever reason, like, not been inspired to use that as the impetus to, like, make this and get it edited and laid out and published or whatever, like, Do you think you still would have tried to use that template, or would you have just tried to lay it out yourself, like you've done in the past?Sam: Honestly, I think without the jam this wouldn't exist. I have like a long to do list of things at any given time, like creative projects I wanna on, youNico: Oh, yeah,Sam: know? And the thing that brought this to the top of that to do list was just wanting to have something to submit into that jam. You know, I wanted to work with you as an editor. I Always want to clear something off the to do list. I always want to have some kind of creative project. And, I wanted to submit something to that jam, but I think if you took any one of those away, I might not have put the thing out at all. Nico: Yeah, that's really interesting. But I guess that's also, again, kind of what a good template or layout or just tool in general can help is actually get these things made. Sam: That's what a good jam can do, too, right? I mean, there's a reason the Golden Cobra contest is something that I love. It's like 40 new LARPs every year and they only exist because the Golden Cobra is throwing down the gauntlet.Nico: That's very true. Well, maybe it's time to move along to more practical concerns Sam: Maybe it's time to do the actual commentary part of this episodeWe've done the waxing philosophical part, butNico: we, yeah, checked off that Dice Exploder box. Now it's time to do the actual game talk.Sam: your bingo cards Nico: Yeah, Sam: Yeah, so let's start with the cover.Nico: Yes, the cover, which I only realized it was a teeth, that it was a mouth with teeth open when you said in the outline, ah yes, it's a mouth with teeth. And I looked at it and I was like... Oh my god, it is. Like,Sam: I did my job so well. I wanted it to be subtle, but I always like looked at it and was like it's so obviously teeth, I'm never gonna get this subtle enough. But I'm I'm glad to hear that I succeeded.Nico: I truly don't know what I thought it was before, but it definitely wasn't teeth.Sam: Yeah. Well, it started as I'll share this in the show notes. It started as this image. It was like a 6x9 layout, and, the teeth were still there, and it was like, all black, and the teeth were this much wider, gaping maw, like, inhuman, unhinged jaw kind of situation. And then, in the middle of it, was a, like, live laugh love kind of Airbnb sign with I Know The End on it. It was like the mouth, like, eating the sign.And I liked that. I felt like, the problem with that was that... As much as creepy, live, laugh, love sign is kind of the like, vibe of this, I didn't really want to bring in the like, kitsch of that at all, like, I felt like that kitschiness would hang over the whole thing if I made it the cover, and I mean, this whole thing is just about my own personal emotional repression, right? And my feelings about my small town that I'm from, andabout like, my ambition, and, exactly, yeah.But I, I write a lot, and I make a lot of art about emotional repression , and I think the particular vibe of this game's repression doesn't have space for irony, or satire, or like, Do you wanna live, laugh, love? Like, I don't know how else to put it. Like, it just felt really wrong.It was like, if you put that into the space at all, it's gonna curdle the whole feeling. Nico: it's about the framing of it. I, know that Spencer Campbell of Gila RPGs has written something about this on his blog. I don't remember specifically what the context is, but he's a psychologist by training and is talking about how, like, the way that you frame something matters a lot to how people respond to it, right?So you like, if you're framing it as like, oh, you have, twelve things and I take away six from you, versus like, oh, you have nothing and then you are given six things. It's like, both scenarios, you like, end up with six but Sam: One feels like a letdown and one feels great. Yeah,Nico: yeah, and so I think in his article he was talking about in the, yeah, you know, tying that into the game design context, obviously.And I think it matches here where like, sort of runs the risk of like, priming people to expect kitsch, and I don't think that that's really present in the rest of the game. And that kind of mismatched expectations could really, like, lead to some problems when people are trying to, like, play the game.Sam: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I mean this cover is just kind of like, oh. Like, it doesn't it doesn't really tell you much other than just like there's something back there that's maybe vaguely menacing, and that's kind of it. That's kind of Nico: Yeah.Sam: Alright, speaking of which can we, can we talk about my favorite interaction between the two of us as we were working on this?Nico: Oh, yeah, I was not sure how to bring that up. yes, please do. Now that we're moving on to... For everyone following along at home, we are proceeding to the credits page.Sam: The comment I got from you while you were editing this was, IDK if it would look different in print, but having the text so close to the edge of the page is activating my fight or flight response. And I just replied, working as intended.Nico: It yeah, I had the feeling, I think, even when I sent that, I was like, this, this is not like an accident. Like, like, like no one makes this like no one does this by accident. But, yes, truly, I hope that you are following along at home because I believe that Sam generously gave a whole bunch of community copies of this game, or made them available. Sam: I believe it was 42, 069 I'm usually doing some number like that. This game, I might have done a different number, but that's, the other games that I've done.Nico: So, but the text on this, for credits page specifically, it's truly, like, at the edge of the page. Like, it looks like it could be cut off. It's like, in print, it would be like, cut off by the process of actually like, making it. In fact, feels like if you try to send it to a printer, they could almost send it back and be like, you've gotta give us some space there. Like, you simply can't do that. There needs to be a gutter, or bleed, or whatever the term is. Like, Sam: I love it. maybe one day I will print this. Honestly, like if I become a super famous game designer or something, like, this is one of the ones that I Nico: screen, slash screenwriter.Sam: yeah, yeah. This is one of the ones I'd like to go back and hold in my hand, but I also I don't know, I just love it. I, I love designing for digital as, like, a primary thing, because I just feel like most people who play the thing are gonna play it out of digital.And I don't know if that's, like, the primary audience for a lot of modules. Like, I think there are a ton of people out there who just, like, buy the zine and hold the zine in their hand and probably never get around to playing it. But I, I love the digital. I've always loved the digital. I don't know, I just like making for it.Nico: Well I mean I was even thinking about it in the context of like, you know, how you talked about how you changed the aspect ratio, I was like thinking about that and I was like, I mean, it's not like that would be impossible to print, but like, most standard commercial printers operate in like, one of the more standard like, page sizes. Even the risograph you said is what it's called, right?Sam: The, the RISO. Yeah, I don't know if it's Rizzo or RISO, but I'm gonna sayNico: The RISO background also makes the, again, just from like a fully practical point of view, it's like you're adding color to the whole thing,Like there are many potential barriers to this as like a physical product that would, that are simply not there when you're designing for digital, so like, it is nice to have that sort of freedom, like, when you're thinking about how to lay this out or, or put stuff on here, it's like, you're freed from a lot of those practical considerations.Sam: There's a few other details I want to talk about on this page just kind of like references I'm making that are not obvious.So the first is that the header font and title font of I Know The End is a font that I ripped from Lilancholy, which is this amazing book by Snow, which is ostensibly a game, but but also a reflection on childhood and personal relationship to emotions and trauma.And I love the look of the font, but I also intentionally wanted to reference that game while I was making something that felt really personal in a similar vein. And another another reference here is that the color of the whole game, like this red, is pulled from the cover art for the Phoebe Bridgers album Punisher that I know the end is off of. I, I just found the, like, most saturated red pixel that I could on the album and was like, that's the color! I love hiding little references in every little detail that I can. Nico: Yeah, it's so interesting because I did not know any of that, you know, prior to this conversation or seeing that stuff on the outline. What did you sort of hope to achieve with those references, right? Because I can't imagine that you're plan was like, for someone to look at it and be like, oh my god, that's the Lilancholy font, and that's the Phoebe Bridgers album Sam: that's one pixel from that album cover.Yeah.What am I trying to achieve? I don't know, like there's, so the Paul Thomas Anderson movie Phantom Thread Is an amazing movie, and it's about Daniel Day Lewis being incredibly serious, scary Daniel Day Lewis, making dresses, being a tailor, and an element of the movie is that he hides his initials inside the dresses, like, when he's making them, he, like, sews his initials in.And that's a real thing that, that people did, and maybe it's just for him. It's also kind of an arrogant thing to do, you know, that all these, like, women are gonna be walking around wearing these dresses with, like, his initials kind of, like, carved, it's like this power thing. But my favorite part of it is that Phantom Thread is PT, also known as Paul Thomas Anderson.Nico: Ha Sam: And, like, like, I, I just feel like when you're doing that kind of thing, it's just, what an act, it's just so beautiful and arrogant and satisfying. Like I think doing that kind of little reference and joke for myself brings me into the mindset of what I am trying to convey with the game.Like, if I'm thinking in the detail of the font selection, what do I want to reference? What do I want to bring to this game? Then, I'm gonna be I'm gonna be thinking about that in every other choice I'm making for the game, too. And even if half of those choices end up being just for me, I will have been in the headspace to make the other half that are for everyone else, too.Nico: Mm hmm. Yeah. Yeah. like, You could almost even call these, like, Easter eggs, right?But it also made me think about, I had to look this up actually as you were talking, because I was like, about that, the CalArts classroom number that like all of the animators that studied there fit into like Pixar movies and stuff, like, A113, A113. And I think that's also sort of a good example of it in some ways, because it's like now, with the advent of the internet, and you know, and a certain way of engaging with media, like, everyone knows what that, what that means now, or they could if they just looked it up, or they just see some BuzzFeed, you know, article that's like, you know, 50 easter eggs that you missed in the latest Pixar movie.But yeah, it's like, it's very interesting because it kind of asks who is the movie for? What's the intended or imagined audience for all of these things? And it sort of shows that, like, you can have multiple audiences or multiple levels of engagement with the same audience, like, at the same time. Maybe, I would say, it's very unlikely that any random person would just like, look at the cover of I Know The End and be like, oh, that's the Lilancholy font, but,Sam: I have had someone say that to me, though. Yeah.Nico: but, so, what I was just gonna say is like, but I don't think it's hard to imagine that like, the type of person who would, who would buy, who would be interested in I Know The End or Lilancholy, I think there's a pretty decent chance that they would be interested in the other if they're interested in one of them, right?And so it is interesting as well, where it's like, I am often surprised by like the ability of people to sort of interpret or decipher things that far outweighs my sort of expectations of their ability to do so.If only just because I have the arrogance to be like, well no one could ever have a mind like mine. Like, no one could ever think in the specific bizarre way that I do. Then it's like actually a surprising number of people think in a very similar way. Sam: Another thing I think about with making these really, really tiny references, easter eggs, it's the, not making a decision is making a decision, right? CentrismNico: Oh,Sam: Like, if you have literally anything that you have not made a choice about with intention, that is a missed opportunity, I think.And... I have so much respect for people who will just pump something out, like, write a page of a game and, like, upload as a DocX to itch. Like, Aaron King is a genius, and I know a lot of games that are put out that way, and I love that stuff. But for me, like, the kind of art creation process that I enjoy and like doing is so based on finding meaning in every crevice, finding a way to express yourself in every detail. just love doing it.Nico: you are the English teacher that the, the curtains are blue meme is referencing, in fact.Sam: Yes.Nico: The curtains are blue in I Know The End because,Sam: Well, and I know the end they are red, but Nico: yes.Imagine that being the new version of the meme: the curtains in this are red because there's a Phoebe Bridgers album that has a single pixel that is that color.Sam: Yeah, I don't know. It's true, though.Nico: Exactly. it is in fact true. But so would, in some ways, any other interpretation of...Sam: Yeah.Nico: of the red color, right? It's like you picked it because of the association with the album cover. Someone else could be like, Oh, it means this otherthing. And like that interpretation is correct. Sam: Yeah, I mean, I also picked it because of its association with blood, you know, like I, I wanted to kind of evoke that feeling too, so.Shall we do the table of contents? HehNico: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think the most interesting thing to talk about, and I want to know when this entered the sort of the design process, is the blacked out Table of Contents entry which corresponds to an almost entirely blacked out, or in this case, redded out,Sam: Yeah, Nico: messily redacted,part of, the book,Sam: Yeah, I think this was always there, I think I started writing a list of locations very early on, and on that list of locations was, like, I work in Google Docs to begin with for most of my stuff, and it was a bullet pointed numbered list, and the last list item was struck through, and it was your mom's house.And I just thought that was a funny little joke. It's like really dark? Another, just like a little detail, I have such a great relationship with my parents. Like really just a better relationship with my parents than anyone I know. And, so much of my art ends up with these like, really bad, fucked up relationships with parents, and I don't know what that's about.But, there's, there's something about, there's a piece of your hometown that is like so traumatic that you can't bring yourself to look at it. There's a piece of yourself, or your childhood, or like, where you came up, there's something from your origin story that you can't bear to face is a lot of what this is about. And even as the climax of this thing is I think in a lot of ways turning to face everything that you left behind.I mean the whole module is about that but I think fact that even when you are doing that, there's one piece of it that you can't bear to look at is really tragic and a mood to me. You know, it really felt right. Nico: it's sort of like, yeah, I'm finally gonna stand my ground and face my fear, or whatever, except for that thing. That thing, that part over there, for whatever reason, because I'm actually just very afraid of it. It really, as always, is sort of like the exceptions to the rule make the rule, or emphasize the rule. You're kind of carving out the negative space around it. And it makes it clearer in so. so Well, Yeah, so like, then the first thing of the game text itself, so to speak, is like the front and back of a postcard. And where's the picture from? It looks kind of old timey in a sort of non specific way.Sam: It's from Wikimedia Commons, I believe. I was looking for pictures of old postcards, and I wanted a small town, and, this is what I found.The postcard image is actually like a hell of a photo bash too. The stamp on it is from a real postcard I received from my cousin. The handwriting was me on just like a piece of paper that I scanned, and then the postcard is another like open source postcard image.Nico: Yeah. I am, once again, sort of showing, showing a lot of my bias here. I am often kind of against a lot of little, like, accessories, or sort of, like, physical things that are often part of crowdfunding, like, stretch goals, you know, like, it's, I don't know. I don't think it's, like, ontologically evil or anything like that, it's just, I understand, it's part of the reality of crowdfunding, and, like, attracting attention, and yada yada yada, I just personally don't love that reality. Which, of course, is easy to criticize when you're not part of a project is trying to do that, but that aside, I think it would actually genuinely be very cool to have, like, this postcard as, like, a physical object like, if the game were to be printed.Sam: You gonna make me like, handwrite every one of the postcards too? Cause that isNico: I did not say that. Oh, is that really? Well, but then, then you have it already, you can just print it off, like, or you make that the, like, I don't know, the hundred dollar stretch goal, you know, they back it at that level and then the postcard just appears inside their mailbox. Like,Sam: That wa that is creepy. I will tell you that,Nico: You say that as though it's happened to you before. You're like, well, let meSam: well, I'm not, I, I revealing nothing. How autobiographical is this? Nico: Yeah. so I guess, yeah, so getting, So this is the introduction page, the background, the introduction, giving the context to what this module, extended bestiary, what have you, what it is. My question here from a sort of meta perspective is like, how much are you trying to sort of give away at the start of this? How do you pitch this to , like to someone you know?Sam: that's a great question. I'm pretty proud of the execution here. I think I do a good job of, like, leaving some juicy hints here as to what might be going on without giving anything away. Like, the fact that I advertise this as maybe closer to a bestiary entry than a module, like, uh, what? Like, like you, you have an idea of what that means, but also like, where's the monster, what is the thing that I'm looking like, that is kind of planted in your mind in a way that I think is intriguing and sets expectations without giving the whole thing away.And, also, this is just me, like, trying to figure out how to describe this thing in real time as I'm writing. It really came from intuition. Nico: yeah. I know that, you know you're on, very much on record talking about how, you know, like, taxonomy is fake and, you know, et cetera, et cetera. Sam: As much as I love it.Nico: right, right, exactly, I mean, I feel the same way, but I, I am curious as to like if you were trying to sell someone on the idea of even just playing this game, like, how effective do you think it is of like communicating whatever this is, you know, like, is it effective to say it's kind of this, or it's not this, or maybe it's this, like, Sam: I think this is going to be really good at reaching the kind of person who will love this, and really bad at selling this to like a mass audience, you know? But luckily, I'm not trying to sell this to a mass audience. I'm like trying to make Joe Dissimone proud, you know? Like I'm trying to make like something as weird as fucking possible.and I think there's a kind of person who really appreciates that and this struggle to define what this is using existing terminology, I think is going to really appeal to the people who like this.Nico: yeah, I agree, I think it signposts well hey, you, there, like, look at this thing. Isn't that interesting. And if they're like, If they're like, no, that's confusing and I don't know what to do with it, and they go somewhere else, in some ways, it could be argued that that is like, working as intended, right, likeSam: I kind of find it interesting in the sidebar here to watch me sort of like struggle with how you're supposed to play this game, like what rule system are you supposed to use?I do think with some distance from this, the best way to experience this is as a solo game. Like to just read the thing but pause and journal about your character's experience as you sort of walk through it. I have started playing more solo games since I wrote this in preparation for a Season 3 episode of the show, and I think this would serve that experience really well.I considered even, like, rewriting this to be more of explicitly a solo experience, but I, ultimately was really happy leaving it in its sort of nebulous, provocative, what if, is this, what is this sort of state. Nico: Yeah. I would genuinely be interested to have like, the two of us play the game, like this game, like one running it, one as the player, because I don't necessarily disagree with what you said, might be better suited as a solo game, but I really do think that there is something that can be gained about, like being in a room with, like, one other person, or, you know, being on a call with one other person, or whatever and going through this,Sam: Yeah, yeah, I can feel the intensity of that as you describe it. And it sounds harrowing and... Amazing. I do, I do have this dream of like running a Mork Borg dungeon, like over the course of like three sessions, and then like taking one of the players who survives and being like, I've got another module that I think we should play with the same character. Nico: yeah. Anyways, you go home and you think you're safe, but actually, like, Sam: I do think that this as a response to OSR play is really an interesting way to try to play the game, like to Nico: just sort of experienceSam: Yeah, to try to take the kind of character that you would have coming out of that and the experience you would have coming out of that and then like get tossed into this, like that disorientation I think would serve this really well and would do something that I found I really like to do with the OSR kind of play of like finding ways to bring in more character stuff, to just have people to reflect on their person, rather than on the logistical problem solving.Nico: Mm hmm. Which, of course, in some ways also is like, I don't want to say direct contradiction, but like, moving perpendicular to a lot of the sort of OSR principles, rightSam: But yeah, I mean, fuck em. Nico: exactly, I mean, I'm not, saying that to discourage you from doing it, I'm just saying, like, I just think it's an interesting for those to come into sort of, conflict or, or whatever in, in that specific way.Sam: I mean, that's what the bleeding edge of something is all about, right? It's like, what are our principles? What if we throw them out? What does thatNico: Right, right. What if we smash things together that, like, should sort of repel each other like magnets? Like,Sam: Yeah.Nico: Let's move on to the town?Sam: Yeah. So this is the, like, GM spoiler page.Nico: Right.Sam: I don't know that I have a lot to say about this particular page. It's, it's the town. There are, like, two suggestions in the first chunk of this book that came from you that I think are really valuable to this. Like, the first is that the town is always capitalized throughout. Which I like sort of was doing, but you really emphasized, and I think was a great decision.And, the second is that there aren't any contractions in this book except for possessives. And, that was another suggestion that came from you, to have this sort of stilted, formal, slightly off kind of language of not having contractions, that I think serves it really well and is just really cool.Nico: Yeah, I have to give credit for that, to the Questionable Content webcomic, which is a webcomic that has been running forSam: God, is it still going?Nico: oh, it very much is still going, I, it updates Monday to Friday, and I, am reading, I am seated and reading,Sam: stopped reading that like a decade ago.Nico: It is officially 20 years old. It started in 2003.but so one of the characters in that she initially never uses contractions. It is always, it is, it is never, it's. Do not, not, don't, you know, is not, not, isn't and over time, as the character sort of gets more comfortable and starts to open up about her kind of mysterious past, and they'll deal with a lot of the sort of like, serious emotional turmoil that is present in the character, she like, starts to use contractions.And so, it's a specific device that is very weirdly ingrained in my head at this point, because I remember, like, realizing that when it was called out the first time, and then I will fess up and say I have re read the webcomic from the beginning several times. I have a lot of time on my hands sometimes. And it is always kind of a delight to go back to the beginning and see this character and to really notice that device because you know where she ends up and how much more comfortable she is and so to see that difference in the beginning makes it very effective on a reread in a way that is sort of present in the maybe subconscious the first time on the way through.Thank you. And I feel like it's similar here, not quite the same because I don't know if you would ever necessarily actively realize, like, oh, there are no sort of contractions here.Sam: and the town is never gonna stop being a entity of repression.Nico: Yeah, exactly. And so it's giving this like underlying anxiety kind of like,like, you're just like, Ooh, this is Sam: Yeah. It's like, what is going on? What's wrong with the language here?Nico: Yeah. And you might not even really be able to, articulate it because it's sort of hard to articulate the absence of somethingSam: And like, that's the feeling of the whole module. yeah, It's, it's just, it's a great decision. Nico: Yeah. And then of course, capitalizing town, you know, are you even really a game designer if you're not capitalizing some random words in Sam: yeah. gotta have one at least, come on.Sam: I will say I really enjoy the fact that I give no origin story for the town. I think that's also really powerful, of leaving a hole that people can fill in if they want.The mom repression stuff is kinda like that too, the like, the blacking out sharpie. Of like, that's a hole you could fill in in play if you wanted to, but I, I'm not going to. I'm gonna intentionally leave that hole there.Nico: It also is the kind of thing, right, of like, oh gosh, Nova was saying this in the Dice Exploder Discord recently, where like, part of the reason the OSR can be so sort of rules light and stripped down is because like, it is relying a lot on the sort of cultural script of like, what is a fantasy role playing game, or even just like a fantasy story in general, you know? What your knowledge of an OSR game is.And this, in a similar way, is sort of like, you know what a hometown is. Like, you know, I don't need to tell you what the backstory of this is, because you know what it's like to be from somewhere. Cause it's also worth saying, like, this game does not give any character creation instructions, right? I mean, actually, I guess that's not entirely true, because underneath the postcard, you know, it just says, A decade or more gone since you fled the small backwater town that spawned you.And it's like, yeah, that's basically all the sort of character creation information you need, like,Sam: yeah, yeah, like wait, gonna play yourself and you're gonna be sad about this, like uh, Nico: Right, or, like, or if you're not playing yourself, you are playing a person who's sad about it, like, you know, it's like, it's kind of all you really need, Sam: you have internalized the tone of this thing, like, your character is in ways the negative space of the voice of the text. Nico: Like, a weird relationship with your small hometown, we just don't need to spend very much, time covering that broad background. It's much better spent covering the specific, like, locations and people in this town that also sort of help to convey that, feeling, that information.Sam: Temptations and terrors?Nico: Yes, probably The closest thing to a system that is in here, inasmuch as it's taken roughly verbatim from Trophy Dark Sam: yeah, I do think it is notable that when I wrote this I had not played Trophy Dark, and Trophy Dark is the one where you definitely die,Nico: Right. Right. Sam: My intention was not that you would definitely die in this. I really want escape to be a big possibility at the end and so it's interesting that I went with Trophy Dark as, like, the obvious system.Yeah, I like these lists. This is just a lot of tone setting, basically, right? I don't have a lot to say about the details here. The first terror, a children's toy, damp in a gutter, is a reference to another song that makes me cry. The Rebecca Sugar song for Adventure Time, Everything Stays.But most of the rest of this is just, vibes. Here's some vibes. I don't know, I re read these lists and I was like, yeah, they're fine, great, next page. But I don't know, is there anything that stands out to you here?Nico: I mean, I think the most important thing about these lists, these kinds of things, you could maybe even sort of broaden this to like pick lists in general, is that, they kinda need to do two things, like they need to both give you a good solid list of things to pick from, if you're like, at a loss, or if you just are like, looking through it, and you're like, this is good, I want to use this.Or, the other purpose of using it is to have it sort of identify the space that you're playing in to the point where you can come up with your own thing that like, could just be the next entry on that list, right? For me at least, the whole point of like, buying a game is like, I want something that I like, can't essentially come up with by myself, you know? Because I like to be surprised, I like to be sort of challenged, I like to be inspired, and so I think a really good game is one that you sort of like, read it, and you're like, okay, like, there's great things to use in here that I'm excited to use. I also, after having read this, am coming up with my own ideas. Like, equally long, if not longer, list of things that like, fit into this perfectlySam: Bring the vibes of your small town. Nico: Yeah, exactly, that I could also use. It's like, and so it's like, it's kind of funny that like, for me at least, the mark of a good game is like oh yeah, you both want to use everything that's contained in it, and also you immediately get way more of your own ideas than you could ever use when you're running the game.Sam: Yeah. Next?Nico: Yes. Act 1. Sam: I love this little guy, I love Wes he's just kind of a pathetic little dude, and I feel sad for him.Nico: It's so funny, too, because this particular little guy, like, doesn't look very pathetic to me. Like, he looks like he's kind of doing okay. Sam: I definitely like drew, like all the art in the book I drew, and I did it by just drawing a lot of little heads, and then assigning them to people. Like, there were a couple where they were defining details about how the people looked, that I knew I needed to draw specifically. But in general, I just drew a bunch of heads and then doled them out, and like, this is the one that ended up on Wes. And, I think that the contrast between, like, in my mind, Wes is this skinny, lanky, little kid, you know, he's like early 20s, finally making it on his own, and he has no idea what the hell's going on with the world, and he always looked up to you, and he's finally getting out of town. And then he's, he's like overcompensating with the beard for the fact that he's like balding really early, and like, you know, he's, I don't know, like, I think the contrast is just fun.Nico: I love this whole life that you have for this, this little, this little guy, like, which is, I can't stress this enough, mostly not contained in the text,Sam: Yeah. yeah. I think a good NPC is like that. I think it's really hard to transcribe the characters we get in our heads.Nico: yeah, Sam: I really like the, the pun in the Town Crier, I mean like the Town Crier feels like a horror movie trope, like the old man who's gonna be like, You got don't go up to the cabin! But it's also, like I wrote that down first and then just started describing this Wes guy and then I was like I'm gonna just like make a pun out of this.This is something I did all the time while writing this, was I had, like, a little oracle going, actually, at a certain point, like, in the same way that you would in a solo game with an oracle. Like, if I was stuck for an idea, I would just roll on the oracle table and then, like, fill in a detail that was somehow related to the oracle. Nico: Mhm. Sam: That, that didn't happen here, but the idea of, Oh, I want a little bit more description for this guy, like, what should I do? I, like, pulled the word crier, and then was like, Oh, that's really interesting, like, when would this guy have cried? Like, oh, that's a great question, let's just, like, put that to the player. I'm always, like, a thing in screenwriting that is really hard to do, and that I'm always looking for is, like, really good, pithy character descriptions.Like, a friend of mine loves the one like, this is a woman who always orders fajitas at a Mexican restaurant because she loves the attention that she gets when the fajitas come out.She hates fajitas. And that description just says Nico: That's Sam: much. It's so good, right? And that one's even a little bit long for like a screenplay, but it'd be great for like an RPG thing, right?And something about like Here's a little bit about this guy. You remember when he was crying once, like a baby? What was the deal with that? Like, it's such a, like, defines everything else about him. Like, I, I, I'm really proud that.Nico: Yeah. No, that's, that's how I felt a little bit with I ran Vampire Cruise at Big Bad Con this year. And that game has some of, like, the best random NPC generating tables that I've, like, ever seen and played with.I remember one specifically, it was, like, I was like, rolling to generate a passenger, and I think it was like, the secrets part of the table, or something like that, and what I rolled was like, regrets that she never got to see the dinosaurs, and it's like, what does that mean?Like, like, Sam: She had a traumatic experience at a science museum as a kid, or maybe she's like 10 million years old, like, I don't...Nico: or, yeah, or she's just like a weirdo who like really loves dinosaurs? It's like, it's, Like, it really gives you sort of what you need to just sort of like, spin a world out of that specific detail. Sam: It's weird because I like completely agree with you, and you know, I was tooting my own horn about like this question about Wes sobbing and also like, in every single spread of this thing, I'm taking like two full pages to talk about like one or two NPCs, which is a terrible way to do the thing that we are talking about doing. Like,Nico: That is true, that is, it must be said,Sam: it makes it feel so much more like a short story, or maybe like a solo game, right? It's like, eh, spend two pages, like, getting to know this guy. Nico: who won't come up again, spoiler alert, Sam: Yeah, it feels like the right call for this thing where like, I mean it's like the text is forcing you to sit with the memory of this guy, it's like forcing you to come in and like spend more time than you would like to like back at home with these people.And there's some like location context built into all these descriptions too, and we like learn about the bakery thing here and like old stories and stuff. And like, already it's like, do we need that shit to run this game? Like, absolutely not, like, get, get out of the way, like, but also, I don't know, it feels right?And it's one of the things that makes all this weird and, you know, unrunnable.Nico: Which is of course the goal, we don't want people to run this. Yeah, no, that's something that I've thought about in my own games as well, is, is, and just sort of like, my life, I guess, is sort of like, what makes a place that place, you know, like, what makes a town a town, what makes a city a city, like, is it the people who live there? Is it the places? Like, again, kind of back to the sort of Ship of Theseus metaphor, it's like, if everyone you know leaves, and a lot of the stores turnover, like, is that still your hometown? Like... Does your relationship to it change?And so I, in defense of, of what we're doing here, it makes a lot of sense to spend so much time thinking about the people and the places that are here because that also basically is the game, right?Like, like, this is not a dungeon crawl, right? Like, this is not a hack and slash thing, It's not a dungeon crawl, like, Sam: it's a person crawl. Nico: Yeah, exactly, you're yeah, the point of you coming home is you're trying to find Sidra, the person who sent you this postcard, asking you to come home, and yeah, you're basically doing a point crawl, trying to find this person.And then there are various conditions that need to be in place for you to actually find them = And yeah, so it's like, using more words than a sort of your standard OSR like dungeon crawl or point crawl or whatever, or hex crawl, but like, it's kind of the same way where it's like, yeah, but like, that's the game, that's the adventure, like, Sam: yeah, yeah. Another detail here I'm really proud of is the like, offhand remark about how Wes and Sidra aren't talking for what are probably romantic reasons. Because the implication, there's like a strong implication that you, player, have some sort of romantic history with Sidra, like, whether it was ever consummated or not. And I love the just sort of, like, offhand, Wes and Sidra had a thing that didn't work out, because it both... leaves open your potential romantic relationship with Sidra, but also like complicates it and like darkens it from whatever sort of nostalgic quote unquote pure like memory of it you had.And I love that it just sort of brings a little complexity into what happens when you leave for 15 years. And then like what it feels like when you like, hear, oh yeah, your ex has been like, dating someone for a couple years. What were we talking about? Like just that, like sometimes like a bolt of like, information about like, someone from your past that like, you care a lot about will just hit you and you'll be like, oh, wait, what? And we're just I'm supposed to just like, take that and move on? Like, yeah, yeah, Nico: It's also a very small town, right, where it's a sort of like, oh yeah, passing reference to this because everyone knows this already, right? Like, this is old news as well as, like, in a small town, it's like, there's a small pool of people your age that you're interested in, so, not like you're gonna get with all of them inevitably, but it's like, yeah, there's a pretty high chance that you might.Last thing I did wanna say on this, do you wanna share what Wes's name was in the first draft of this that I received?Sam: What was it? I don't rememberNico: It was Glup Shitto. It was, it was one of the first comments I left! It was one of the first comments I left! I was like, Sam, you've gotta know this can't be the final thing, right?Sam: knew it couldn't be the final name. But there was something really funny to me about like the one person who like doesn't fit into town, like this little fucking Star Wars fanboy like schmuck kid is just Glup Shitto. And he's leaving town cuz like when you got that name, it doesn't fit anymore. You gotta get the fuck out of there.No wonder the town couldn't absorb him. His name was Glup Shitto.Nico: I want to say, like, I might have, like, made my first round of comments because I was, like, yeah, feeling the same way of, like, okay, obviously this is not the finalSam: yeah, yeah, I just didn't change it and you were likebruh Nico: and then, yeah, and then you, like, made changes based on the comments that I left, and I went back to it, and I'm like, it's still Glup Shitto. Like, it simply can't be this! It's not allowed! It's, it's not legal! Like, Sam: there ought to be a law.Nico: yeah.Sam: Alright, let's do Act 2 gosh.Yeah, so I made this little map. I like the little map. This is just my hometown, incidentally. Like, there's so much in this that is just, like, pulling details directly from my hometown. That oracle that I mentioned earlier, like, Northfield, Minnesota was, like, one of the things on the oracle. And you can see that here in like, the riverwalk and this little bridge over it was very Northfield. the Rube, which we're getting to next, these two bars, the kind of cowboy themed bar thing was a thing.Nico: Again, it's a very small town of just like, no sort of reasonable business person would have these specific Sam: yeah, but they, they exist here for some reason Nico: it almost feels like the kind of thing where it's like, like they can exist in a really small town, because it's sort of like, well they're the only things here, and they can exist in like New York City Sam: yeah. Nico: everything's in New York city, and like every kind of place is there, but like anywhere in between, people would just be like, I don't understand, and then it goes out of business,Sam: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, doctors always also a big portion of my childhood and my past always coming up in my stuff just because I spent so much time in hospitals as a kid. So the, inclusion of a doctor here is also very much something coming out of my hometown.I like the little mechanic here of, like, rolling and you, like, add one every, every time. I think that's a nice sort of way to handle trying to find Sidra. Nico: as like a classic Nico mechanic 'cause I simply haven't made and published that many things. But in my mind, my narcissistic fantasy, it is a classic me mechanic.Sam: I believe that came from you.Nico: I fucking love a table that like evolves over time.And it's not like I invented it, but like, I think my more standard thing is sort of like you have a table of like 12 things, and then you change which die you roll on it, you know, it's like, oh you can do like a d4 through d12 or whatever and that's like, I really like the ability to sort of go back to a table and, like, use it multiple times as opposed to, like, Okay, we have one table for this, we have a different table for that, you know.Sam: Additional persons. I really like this format for sort of generic NPCs, like, I'm not gonna tell you anything about this person, but I am gonna tell you what you think about them and your relationship to them.I think it's a really cool way of doing... Oh, do you just need to, like, bring someone in? You, like, met someone on the street or whatever? In a lot of other settings, you would just have, like, a random person, and it would be, like, the Vampire Cruise thing. If you give them an interesting detail in here, it'd be a cool thing.But I think, especially in, like, a small town format, the, like, here's your relationship to this person, because everyone knows everyone, and, every character that comes in, like, is gonna have to inspire some kind of feeling and past in you. I think this works really cool, reallyNico: It also feels very sort of true to life in terms of, at least, how I often GM things. Someone will be like, hey, can I, like, ask just, like, the next person I see on the street what they know about this thing? And I'm like, I mean, I fuckin I guess, like, it'll shock you to learn I don't have a name for that person, but, you know, I just have to, like, come up with, like, here's a weird voice, and like, a random thing they know, and like here's a name, Sam: This is a great way to turn that experience back on the player.Nico: exactly, yeah, there's this random person, you're like, alright, this is someone who owes you an apology, why is that?Like, Sam: yeah, Nico: I also wanna say that I feel like this was actually a relatively late addition to theSam: Yeah, it was. I always intended to write these, but it was like the last thing that I wrote.Nico: Yeah.Sam: Yeah.Nico: There was definitely some time when I sort of came back and looked at it, and all of a sudden there was this relatively large additional persons section in here, and I was like, huh, interesting.Sam: Yeah. I'm happy with how it came out. I think these are my best little guys. Nico: Oh yeah, Sam: I really like the unfinishedness of these little guys that you can project a little bit of yourself onto them while there's still some, like, major details there. This someone you seek vengeance upon looks a lot like a penis, and I don't know how I feel about that one, butNico: I was gonna say, I find that one fascinating as the ide

Hot Topics: Ariana Grande pays to get out of her marriage. Gordon from RHOP blasts his soon to be ex-wife on TMZ. Drake has a lot of beef and accusations flying around. Jada Pinkett reveals that her and Will Smith have been separated for 7 years.We Cover: RHONY Sai and Jessel aren't getting along, Pavit has to do a mileage run to Vietnam, and Erin & Sai try and fail to catch Jessel lying. RHOSLC Meredith storms out after the rumor drops. Heather & Angie begin to repair their friendship only to upset Lisa, and Monica get very real with her mom. RHOC Reunion Part 2 - Shannon barely apologizes and opens up about her relationship. Tamra vs Emily vs Heather rages on but no one knows why but everyone makes up and Andy calls the cast "perfection".Follow Us on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/escapingrealitypodcast/

Carol Williamson, Cheyne Plants, and Jessi Vos discuss the Tulip Queen selection process. Ballots can be found in this week’s Town Crier and the Pella Historical Society website.

This Wednesday episode begins with the somber news of an Aaron Rodgers injury and a hypothetical on 24-hours of disaster at MetLife stadium. Then Brendan and Andy move to three things from social media in the last couple days 1) Tiger out there on a range, swinging some clubs (lightly) in public, 2) the off-the-bus intimidating burliness of the team picture for Europe during its scouting day in Rome, and 3) the PGA Tour's “tough spot” regarding even the acknowledgment of one of the country's great tragedies. The schedule for the week is back, with some thoughts on the Fortinet field and ample discussion on the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, a place Billy Horschel said he'd prefer to play for “25” events a year. Billy had a lot to say, including pleas for more Americans to play it and also that the trees make it feel like there are even more fans watching. News hits on Gil Hanse renovating Spanish Bay, USGA championships coming to Prairie Dunes, and more.

The SGS anniversary week rolls on with this beefier “Thursday-Friday” episode. Andy and Brendan begin with a quick schedule for the week review with some above-average golf taking place during NFL's opening weekend. They discuss the Irish Open at the K Club, where the Prince of Ponte Vedra is playing with his Town Crier during a busy pre-Ryder Cup stretch that has some Euros raising eyebrows. Also pondered is how many people will watch the Champions Tour finish vs. the NFL late games on Sunday. News begins with an absolute bombshell of an NCAA golf scandal that might involve shady dealing and cyber espionage. It then moves to rumblings of Justin Thomas putting his coach, also his father, on the backburner, which his dad has already roundly denied as untrue. There's also coverage of Adrian Meronk's “anger” over his Ryder Cup snub and whether LD will need to steer clear of Warsaw. The episode concludes with two different segments: over-unders that weave between golf and the two hosts' general pessimism about their NFL teams as they kick off the season, and then SGS golf advice on caddie tipping and a “gimme” controversy.

LIVE weekdays at 1pm!The crew is back together this Monday! In this episode, they discuss a rogue dog poo and debate whose responsibility it is to clean it up. PK shares his struggles with the long "C" while DK talks about not being able to talk to guys with money behind PK's back. The car drama continues with DK's title application being denied. The team listens to your instant voice notes and listeners in Atlanta check in from the Atlanta Braves meet up! There's a hilarious get well message for DK and Producer Elia shares his hot takes, including not farting in grocery stores. They spin the wheel of prizes and play "What's that Noise" for $500.00. PK gets a bad grade for being a caretaker and DK updates us on his health after surgery to remove her gallbladder. Duryan as our "Town Crier" and the "Tower of Terror" makes the local news! Plus, Shea sticks two cars at NASCAR in Talladega and they share how to turn a plastic bag into a cup holder in today's final thought + so much more!The PK and DK Show!A daily interactive comedy podcast. Prizes and funny business (our only business)!LINKS!Home/PK and DK PLUS: PKandDK.comDiscord: https://discord.gg/VYhrfqKDY6Podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/dailylaughsMerch + Stickers: https://www.pkanddkshop.comSponsorships: hello@pkanddk.com PROMO CODES:Podium: “PK and DK” for 20% off

LIVE weekdays at 1pm!Lot's to cover today, including PK's beef with his apple watch, a quickie on the indictment of Former President Trump, and a roll call as we join our livestreams. Plus, we're listening to your Instant Voice Notes and Clo agrees with Yessica - a parent DOES spy on their kid! DK reads your DM's, including one about a SMASHBURGER, while PK details his “slut burger” + “hot chicken” meal at Underground Hall in Houston!We're tackling the tough questions today, like whether it's ever appropriate to tell someone they look like an “adult” actor, and whether Irish Spring soap really helps get rid of bugs. And speaking of bugs, we'll reveal the real reason why your food tastes better at 3AM.But that's not all! We're also detailing an aquitaine “Drunk Life,” sharing Norby's time on “Price is Right” winning the final SHOWCASE + a trip to Hawaii, and discussing what top 3 game shows we want to be on. Twitter removing verified check marks unless you pay up, Shiba Inu taking over the Twitter bird, and a 5-year-old buying over $4K in toys on Amazon are just a few of today's top 3 things.And let's not forget PK having to wear the “grumpy” umbrella hat, Duryan wanting to create a terrarium, and our guess of 156 for “What's That Noise.” We'll also be discussing the Town Crier's report of “A Loud Noise In The Morning.”In our final thoughts, Duryan shows us an apple watch hack using gestures, DK updates us on her health issues, and Duryan has a change of heart and gets his 13-year-old son an Easter basket. Plus, we'll share our first colognes and what goes into an Easter basket. And there's so much more! Don't miss out on this exciting episode.The PK and DK ShowA daily interactive comedy podcast. Prizes and funny business (our only business)! LINKS!Home/PK and DK PLUS: PKandDK.comDiscord: https://discord.gg/VYhrfqKDY6Podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/dailylaughsMerch + Stickers: https://www.pkanddkshop.comSponsorships: hello@pkanddk.com PROMO CODES!Podium: “PK and DK” for 20% off Art Car IPA 5K: Code “PKDK” for 15% off

LIVE weekdays at 1pm!PK admits to being jealous of DK's GI doctor as the boys get confused about women's anatomy. PK also has a million-dollar idea (add a zipper to DK so she can be a purse), the Town Crier is back as we discuss Curbside Pickup parking spots and debate which store we have the most impulse buys from. Later on, we meet the female version of Duryan as a meteorologist, guess 130 in 'What's That Noise' for $500.00, chat about tipping etiquette and celebrate 'Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day.' Plus, you won't want to miss Duryan showing us how to juice lemons without cutting them in today's 'daily dud' aka "final thought" and so much more!"The PK and DK ShowA daily interactive comedy podcast. Prizes and funny business (our only business)! LINKS!Home/PK and DK PLUS: PKandDK.comDiscord: https://discord.gg/VYhrfqKDY6Podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/dailylaughsMerch + Stickers: https://www.pkanddkshop.comSponsorships: hello@pkanddk.com PROMO CODES!Podium: “PK and DK” for 20% off Art Car IPA 5K: Code “PKDK” for 15% off

LIVE weekdays at 1pm!Welcome to the Friyay YAYYY!!Today we're celebrating #FireballFriday and St. Patrick's Day as PK and Duryan get pinched for not wearing green! PK's talks about next-level AI technology, we check your Instant Voice Notes, discuss St. Patrick's Day deals, colleges warning against the "BORGs," and March Madness leaderboard updates. Plus, catch some throwback St. Patrick's Day pranks, try to win $500 in our "What's That Noise" game, the Town Crier has announcements, Tone Deaf Karaoke featuring Irish artists, and find out if Duryan's apartment responded about resigning the lease and so much more!A daily interactive comedy podcast. Prizes and funny business (our only business)!LINKS!Home/PK and DK PLUS: PKandDK.comDiscord: https://discord.gg/VYhrfqKDY6Podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/dailylaughsMerch + Stickers: https://www.pkanddkshop.comSponsorships: hello@pkanddk.com PROMO CODES:Podium: “PK and DK” for 20% off Art Car IPA 5K: Code “PKDK” for 15% off

LIVE weekdays at 1pm!Welcome to the Friyay YAYYY!!Today we're celebrating #FireballFriday and St. Patrick's Day as PK and Duryan get pinched for not wearing green!PK's talks about next-level AI technology, we check your Instant Voice Notes, discuss St. Patrick's Day deals, colleges warning against the "BORGs," and March Madness leaderboard updates.Plus, catch some throwback St. Patrick's Day pranks, try to win $500 in our "What's That Noise" game, the Town Crier has announcements, Tone Deaf Karaoke featuring Irish artists, and find out if Duryan's apartment responded about resigning the lease and so much more!A daily interactive comedy podcast. Prizes and funny business (our only business)!LINKS!Home/PK and DK PLUS: PKandDK.comDiscord: https://discord.gg/VYhrfqKDY6Podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/dailylaughsMerch + Stickers: https://www.pkanddkshop.comSponsorships: hello@pkanddk.comPROMO CODES:Podium: “PK and DK” for 20% offArt Car IPA 5K: Code “PKDK” for 15% off

Merch + Stickers: https://www.pkanddkshop.comDiscord: https://discord.gg/VYhrfqKDY6Happy Friyay YAYYY! • Chris C. checks in with a brand new listener • Who carries extra underwear?• Have you ever been kicked out of your home?• An update on PK and DK lease • The show gets a LIVE gift!• Elia's hot takes - a live gripe about DK and “Milwaukee” + why do you rev up Harley's? • Producer Elia signs PK up for an electrifying demo of “Body 20”• What classic movie should DK watch?• DK and Duryan want to see Creed III• We make it up to guess 82 for “What's that noise”• Susan H. in Lovelady, TX joins the show for “Match Two”• Murdaugh Trial, Prince Harry and Meghan are evicted & today's national holidays + more in today's top 3 things • Town Crier has an announcement regarding USPS blue collection box• PK opens up on the loss of “The Doghouse's” JV and how he inspired him• Why you shouldn't wait to share your truth• We announce our next YouTube LIVE at night special • Duryan shares a creative canvas in today's final thought• https://paint.toys/ • So much more!Home: www.PKandDK.com

Merch + Stickers: https://www.pkanddkshop.comDiscord: https://discord.gg/VYhrfqKDY6Welcome to Humpday WednesdayToday:• What happened with Duryan's car tags?• PK and DK have an argument on removal of their license plates • DK needs to email Governor “Kent”• We find out that Duryan's kid is NOT going into High School next year • We make it up to guess 74 for “What's That Noise” • Duryan wants to start “decluttering” needs your help • We checkout the stick jobs in our Discord chat • Town Crier has an announcement about card skimmers• We learn about “Flipper-Zero” a portable multi-tool for nerds• Waking up with: Trader Joe's Date Night• Do Amazon delivery drivers have a secret box inside their vehicles?• Did DK and her friend get hit on?• What is a “Dad joke”?• Peeps flavored Pepsi is on tap for today's final thought • Duryan details a “dream” of his buddy with a Dodge Nissan • What's the current status of MC Hammer?• So much more!Home: www.PKandDK.com

Merch + Stickers: https://www.pkanddkshop.comDiscord: https://discord.gg/VYhrfqKDY6Welcome to a FRI- YEYYY!!!Today:• A brief rundown of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo• We listen to your Instant Voice Notes • Duryan's parents still forgot about his birthday • New game as the boys take on Jeopardy-ish questions • Town Crier is back with your announcements • DK needs your suggestions for a “signature” dish • We make it up to guess 62 for “What's that noise”• Bri in Oregon City and DK play “Match Two”• Air fryers are being recalled, Cookie Monster is terrorizing a California city, “Cocaine Bear” hits theaters + more in today's top 3 things • PK has a few stupid news stories• What is ART?• Waking up with - today's viral video of the day• New Music Friday • Duryan's daily duds: A fireball hack for a fireball friday• So much more!Home: www.PKandDK.com

Merch + Stickers: https://www.pkanddkshop.comDiscord: https://discord.gg/VYhrfqKDY6Welcome to a Throwback Thursday!Today:• Roll call as we join our YouTube livestream• We listen to your instant voice notes• Why do liquor laws differ so much in every state?• Seacrest OUT at LIVE! With Kelly and Ryan and hubby Mark is IN• The boys never listen to DK• Briana asks us to; "say something about your spouse" • Today's one random question: Tell us about the worst butt dial you did OR you ever received• A classic throwback clip• Duryan plays “Match Two” with Esther in Atlanta• The president speaks on the unidentified flying objects, South Park takes on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle + an interstate was shut down due to what in today's top three things• PK shares where “she's dead, want me to draw a picture for you?” came from• Teddy has a potty fest and it's all PK's fault • A minor hiccup in today's “Back in the Day”• Do you heat the oil with the pan…or add in oil once it's hot?• We make it up to guess 42 for “What's that noise”• The Town Crier has an announcement about “fake radio bits”• DK shares a local story of a sex offender riding around with a roll of duct tape • Spend Elon Musk's money in today's final thought • + so much more! Home: www.PKandDK.com

The Town Crier has a message about a listener moving back to Houston plus Denise 'lady garden' lady breaks up with her!!!Subscribe to PK and DK PLUS for the ad-free full show: https://t.co/8CqNxlQsbkCatch the show LIVE weekdays at 1pm CST: www.PKandDK.comJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/VYhrfqKDY6

Enjoy a clip from our February 8th show where the Town Crier checks in, we debate Burgerville with Tony in Brooklyn, and more!Subscribe to PK and DK PLUS for the ad-free full show: https://t.co/8CqNxlQsbkCatch the show LIVE weekdays at 1pm CST: www.PKandDK.comJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/VYhrfqKDY6

It's another *Thursday* episode, with Andy on the road for the big Bears-Commanders national TV game. He and Brendan begin with an amusing note from the Pres Cup, where fans dressed up as Canadian mounties may have heckled a certain Town Crier. Then they get to the idea of LIV instituting a cut, of just three players, and what it says about the desperation for OWGR points and whimsical changes. They discuss the Zozo Championship, where Hideki Matsuyama reiterated his commitment to PGA Tour membership. News hits on the return of the International Crown, Jon Rahm's Ryder Cup comments and Sergio's abdication, and Tony Romo playing his way into a USGA championship. A quick Flashback Friday centers on Isao Aoki and another geopolitical drama that ensued when he committed to play in South Africa.