Talkin' Wonder Man!

Intro Sketch

Rex (00:00:00 - 00:00:06): Let’s go! The True North Nerds are about to start! I know! I’m trying to find the signal!

Rex (00:00:06 - 00:00:08): Thank you, Monster Nerd!

Rex (00:00:08 - 00:00:11): No, that’s the wrong one. Move over!

Rex (00:00:11 - 00:00:16): Let me do it! If I don’t go to this nerd school, I’m gonna lose my mind!

Rex (00:00:16 - 00:00:18): Come on, come on!

Rex (00:00:19 - 00:00:20): We can’t go against that guy!

Rex (00:00:20 - 00:00:21): We’re nerds!

Rex (00:00:21 - 00:00:23): We’re gonna miss it!

Rex (00:00:24 - 00:00:27): My fellow nerds and I will retire to the nerdery with our calculators.

Rex (00:00:27 - 00:00:27): Wait!

Rex (00:00:28 - 00:00:28): I got it!

Theme Song

Kirby Crackle (00:00:29 - 00:00:58): [Theme song lyrics omitted for copyright compliance.]

Welcome and Overview

Brent (00:01:21 - 00:01:24): Welcome, loyal listeners, to another episode of True North Nerds.

Jen (00:01:24 - 00:01:24): Yay!

Brent (00:01:27 - 00:01:39): And that time everybody actually said yay and we could hear it. So that means it’s hopefully working. I’m Brent and we’ve got Ryan. Hey, that’s me.

Ryan (00:01:39 - 00:01:39): Hi.

Brent (00:01:40 - 00:01:41): And we have Jen.

Jen (00:01:42 - 00:01:42): Hello.

Brent (00:01:43 - 00:02:11): And we have me, Brent. No Kevin this week because he is tired because he’s been working a lot. So yeah, he’s getting a well-deserved night off. Yes, which we— that’s the beauty of having like 4 people on the show. One of us can always bail if necessary. So we will be talking about Wonder Man, but first we’ll be talking about the news.

Ryan (00:02:13 - 00:02:14): And a noisy cat.

Brent (00:02:14 - 00:02:15): And a noisy cat.

Jen (00:02:15 - 00:02:17): This is why I wanted to wear the other headphones.

Ryan (00:02:17 - 00:02:19): That’s okay. Everybody loves the cat.

Jen (00:02:20 - 00:02:31): My poor old— For our listeners, that’s Hamlet. He’s 18 years old. He is senile, probably a little blind, probably a little deaf.

Brent (00:02:32 - 00:02:32): Mm-hmm.

Jen (00:02:32 - 00:02:32): Fine.

Brent (00:02:34 - 00:02:38): All righty. Um, Ryan, what’s in the news this week?

News: Trailers, Announcements, and In Memoriam

Ryan (00:02:39 - 00:02:42): Um, do we want to start with happy news or sad news?

Jen (00:02:43 - 00:02:44): Let’s start with happy.

Ryan (00:02:45 - 00:02:52): Okay. We’ll leave the sad news for the end then. Fine. Yeah, um, we got our first look at Masters of the Universe.

Jen (00:02:53 - 00:02:54): Mm-hmm.

Ryan (00:02:54 - 00:03:01): This summer’s upcoming live-action adventure blockbuster movie. Um, thoughts?

Brent (00:03:03 - 00:03:22): Um, I, I liked it. Like, I, I like it so far. It’s, it’s a trailer, so like things can go right and wrong. Um, but, uh, with that, uh, I thought some of the CGI stuff looked a little wonky, but that, like, like I said, it’s a— yeah, it could get better.

Ryan (00:03:24 - 00:04:18): Yes. Um, same. I think, I think, you know, at least the hint we’ve been given of what the story is with, you know, we were hesitant when we heard, oh, he, you know, Adam’s gonna be on Earth and say, uh, but at least it sounds like there’s reason for that. You know, he’s been sent to, you know, his mother sent him away so he wouldn’t be taken and be safe. And yeah, so he’s, he’s grown up and spent some time on Earth. He’s got a job, uh, and he’s searching for the Power Sword from the looks of it. So lots of, lots and lots of little Easter eggs in that toy store we see, you know, the, between the toys in the background and the statue he’s trying to steal the sword from. So It was interesting watching Pixel Dan’s videos about it because he’s like, oh, this is this and this is that and this is this. And say, oh wow, I am not that big of a He-Man nerd.

Brent (00:04:19 - 00:04:20): Yeah, same.

Jen (00:04:20 - 00:04:22): I mean, he literally wrote the book about it.

Ryan (00:04:22 - 00:04:24): So a couple, I think.

Jen (00:04:24 - 00:04:36): Yeah. I don’t know. It looks— I’m not that big of a He-Man nerd either. I mean, it looks okay. I don’t know. Yeah, Cringer’s there. He’s my favorite character.

Ryan (00:04:37 - 00:04:37): Yeah.

Jen (00:04:37 - 00:04:37): So really.

Ryan (00:04:39 - 00:04:54): And of course, you know, the internet is already upset or some corners of it. It’s because when we see him working at his job, he’s got a nameplate that says, you know, Adam Glenn, which is his mother’s maiden name.

Brent (00:04:55 - 00:04:56): Oh, I didn’t know that.

Ryan (00:04:57 - 00:05:01): Yes. Isn’t that— I’m pretty sure her name was Glenn. Her last name was Glenn. And that’s where that comes from.

Jen (00:05:02 - 00:05:03): So why are they upset?

Ryan (00:05:04 - 00:05:19): Because his pronouns are he/him. Because it says he has pronouns beneath his name on his nameplate on his desk. Like, oh, this movie’s so woke. Pronouns, it’s so woke.

Jen (00:05:19 - 00:05:24): It’s like, oh, I thought you were going to say people were upset that it wasn’t like a they/them pronoun.

Ryan (00:05:24 - 00:05:27): No, it’s upset just because it’s any pronouns.

Jen (00:05:27 - 00:05:29): And it was like, because people are idiots.

Brent (00:05:30 - 00:05:33): And his name is literally a set of pronouns.

Ryan (00:05:34 - 00:05:55): Yeah, He-Man. Anyway, but it’s like showing that on there just to me helps to ground the movie in that, yes, he’s in like close to our reality of Earth. Yeah, because that’s a thing when you work in an office. Right. In some offices, that’s a thing.

Jen (00:05:55 - 00:06:14): So, so he was sent to Earth. I know you probably can’t tell this from the trailer, but your speculations, if you— unless you can. So he was sent to Earth because he was— his mom was saving him from, I’m assuming, like the Horde. And does he know he’s a prince from another place or does he not? Because he’s looking for the power sword.

Brent (00:06:14 - 00:06:23): I would say yes. Given the trailer, it really seems like, like he has at least some sense of it.

Jen (00:06:24 - 00:06:28): So they sent him to Earth and was like, well, you can never come home until you find the Power Sword. Bye.

Ryan (00:06:28 - 00:06:33): Or until it’s safe, or who knows what the— that reason is, or how long it’s been there.

Jen (00:06:33 - 00:06:40): But I’m looking forward to that question being answered because I was like, so they sent him to Earth with no way to get back? That seems weird.

Ryan (00:06:42 - 00:07:05): But then it’s also like, did they send him to Earth? We see that battle where we see him young. Does he get sent to Earth then, or just being made to think he does then? And then, you know, so he may be older, like we don’t know, but that’s the voiceover is him saying the whole, you know, uh, all these stories of talking animals and swords and sorcery in this world, you know, their stories in my world, they’re real.

Jen (00:07:05 - 00:07:09): So he has a memory of his world. Yeah.

Ryan (00:07:09 - 00:07:21): Yeah. From, from that bit of the trailer and him searching for the sword, we have to infer that he knows about Eternia and where he’s from. Just, he’s trying to find a way home.

Jen (00:07:21 - 00:07:30): Yeah, like what you were saying, I do like that there’s some sort of logical reason why he’s on Earth. Although, why does it have to take place on Earth at all? Like, I guess we’ll get that.

Ryan (00:07:31 - 00:07:49): Yeah, but if this is it, assuming hopefully this is movie 1 in a possible franchise of movies we’re gonna get, right? 3, 2, 3, 4, who knows. Um, if this is the one and only time we show up on Earth, then that’s fine.

Jen (00:07:50 - 00:07:53): Yeah, like, yeah, you hope it’s gonna be a franchise.

Ryan (00:07:53 - 00:07:55): Yeah, and like, his mother is from Earth.

Jen (00:07:55 - 00:08:09): Yeah, I always like that part about the story. Like, it makes sense. But, uh, yeah, you hope it’s gonna be a franchise, but if this movie doesn’t make like $8 billion, it probably won’t be. Yeah, because that seems to be how it goes nowadays.

Ryan (00:08:10 - 00:08:17): But if it sells like $8 billion in merchandise that offsets the how much does it make at the movie theater.

Jen (00:08:18 - 00:08:18): That’s true.

Ryan (00:08:20 - 00:08:43): You know, as long as the bucket of the, the truckloads of money show up, they don’t care how they get it. Um, following that, and pretty much got overshadowed by He-Man, we got our first look at, uh, Star Wars Maul: Shadow Lord. Yeah, Star Wars cartoon, which looks like it’s gonna be pretty cool.

Brent (00:08:44 - 00:08:45): Yeah, I’m looking forward to it.

Ryan (00:08:47 - 00:10:12): Yeah. Um, it’ll be real interesting to see how they could, you know, make a series out of— I guess, you know, is the whole thing just from, you know, is Maul our main character? Is he just there and our main characters are these new characters? Um, looks like we have a, you know, a Jedi apprentice possibly, like a young, you know, that’s Is, you know, is he gonna— that he’s gonna corrupt, maybe take on as an apprentice? Like, we do see a Jedi in the trailer that’s on the run. So, um, lots of questions. Should be interesting. And it went to a— back to like an old school style of animation to do the lightsabers. That’s where they did like the, the painted on glass type animation or something. I was, um, reading about it. And that’s why the lightsabers look so cool in this trailer. Um, so that premieres, uh, with 2 episodes on April 6th, and we’re gonna get, I guess, 2 episodes a week with the last 2 episodes falling on May 4th. Of course, makes sense. Star Wars Day. Um, so that’s, you know, that looks cool. We got that. We got our first look at Daredevil: Born Again Season 2. Um, did anybody check that trailer out?

Brent (00:10:14 - 00:10:32): I did, and technically Jen has too because they’ve been putting it in front of episodes of Wonder Man. So yeah, um, yeah, yeah, but I wasn’t really paying attention. Yeah, doesn’t really give anything away. Um, but, uh, I’m, I’m looking forward to it.

Ryan (00:10:33 - 00:10:49): Yeah. Well, I guess it does show us, um, uh, Jessica Jones, right? Yes. Uh, we get to see she’s back, which we knew was happening anyway, but it’s good to finally actually see— yep, there she is on screen. So it’s happening.

Brent (00:10:50 - 00:10:51): Yeah.

Ryan (00:10:52 - 00:11:06): Um, yep, looking forward to it. That’s coming out soon. Um, we got another little— oh, excuse me, hiccups— a little teaser for Supergirl. Uh, this one had a better look at Lobo.

Brent (00:11:07 - 00:11:07): Hmm.

Ryan (00:11:08 - 00:11:17): So Jason Momoa riding his space motorcycle, all decked out in his bounty hunter gear. Yep, badass.

Brent (00:11:18 - 00:11:21): Probably taken directly from Jason Momoa’s closet.

Ryan (00:11:22 - 00:11:25): Probably. Or if it wasn’t, it’s there now.

Brent (00:11:26 - 00:11:54): Yeah, we, uh, we just watched this thing, uh, he’s promoting, uh, the movie Wrecking Crew with, uh, Dave Bautista. That’s— yes, uh, it’s on Amazon Prime. And I’ve seen like 3 things with them and the superhero question keeps coming up and he keeps bringing up the fact that he’s playing Lobo. So he’s very happy about this. And yeah. And, uh, we’ll see. Um, I’m looking forward to seeing what the movie’s actually about.

Ryan (00:11:56 - 00:12:12): Um, speaking of that movie he’s in with Batista, uh, did you see the clip where it’s, I guess, him and Batista pulling questions out of a hat or something? And they’re talking about, uh, I didn’t realize the guy who played Ned in Spider-Man— yeah, in the movie with them.

Brent (00:12:13 - 00:12:13): Yes, he is.

Jen (00:12:13 - 00:12:13): Oh yeah.

Ryan (00:12:14 - 00:12:36): Yeah, and he talks about wanting— he’s like, he hopes that they get to make a sequel because he wants to get him and give him a Batista Bomb. So then Batista’s like, you won’t do it, you won’t do it. He’s like, what, you call me a liar? I’m just saying you won’t do it. It’s like, oh well, yeah, if we get— if we get a chance, I’ll do it. Well, maybe— or maybe I’ll let him do it to me.

Brent (00:12:36 - 00:13:00): It’s like, um I, so I’m sure this is far off, uh, or like not a possibility, but part of me would like to see him as Kraven the Hunter in like Spider-Man. Yeah, Jason Momoa.

Jen (00:13:00 - 00:13:03): Oh, Jason Momoa. Yeah, I think I’d like to see Ned.

Ryan (00:13:05 - 00:13:09): No, Ned’s gonna turn into the, to the, uh Tore Goblin.

Brent (00:13:09 - 00:13:13): Yep. Maybe. Wouldn’t bet on it.

Ryan (00:13:13 - 00:13:14): No, not anytime soon.

Brent (00:13:14 - 00:13:17): Not with one movie left on all their contracts.

Jen (00:13:18 - 00:13:18): Yeah.

Ryan (00:13:19 - 00:13:39): Um, what else? Oh, and in between, so between that clip and then anytime I was trying to watch something on the global, uh, online app, online, uh, you know, feed, uh, Every time we’d go to commercial, I would get the commercial for that movie in French.

Brent (00:13:41 - 00:13:41): Yeah.

Ryan (00:13:43 - 00:13:53): And, uh, so I kept getting to hear Jason Momoa’s character say that, uh, he knows who killed his father, um, in French. And it wasn’t Jason Momoa speaking.

Jen (00:13:53 - 00:13:57): They didn’t get Jason Momoa to do all his lines in French?

Ryan (00:13:58 - 00:13:59): No. Or Dave Bautista.

Jen (00:14:00 - 00:14:00): Ah.

Ryan (00:14:02 - 00:14:08): Yep, it’s one of those weird things where, you know, every so often you get French commercials because, you know, yeah, we get those too. Canada.

Jen (00:14:08 - 00:14:09): Yeah.

Ryan (00:14:11 - 00:14:21): Um, so yeah, so that was a Supergirl teaser. We got a trailer for Super Mario Galaxy the movie with Yoshi.

Jen (00:14:22 - 00:14:23): I love Yoshi.

Ryan (00:14:24 - 00:14:28): I do too. Apparently Toad, not a fan. I love it.

Jen (00:14:30 - 00:14:32): It makes me just want to see it more.

Ryan (00:14:32 - 00:14:55): Oh yeah, when he’s making comments like, who’s this guy? He just shows up and he gets to be part of the adventure. Like, come on, who is this? Yeah, too funny. Looking forward to that. It’s one of those ones I keep forgetting is out this— is this year. Um, this might be a good year for movie, like a good nerdy summer, like, you know, spring-summer movie time.

Jen (00:14:56 - 00:14:58): It kind of started to look that way, huh?

Ryan (00:14:58 - 00:15:06): Yeah. Um, have you guys— I guess you guys haven’t seen any seasons of Ted Lasso, have you?

Brent (00:15:06 - 00:15:06): No.

Jen (00:15:06 - 00:15:07): Nope.

Ryan (00:15:08 - 00:15:24): Well, Apple announced with images that the new season, season 4, the highly anticipated season 4 of Ted Lasso will be coming to Apple Plus or Apple TV, whatever they call it nowadays. this summer.

Jen (00:15:25 - 00:15:30): Yeah, I have heard good things, but I do not have— we do not have Apple TV.

Brent (00:15:32 - 00:15:42): Yeah, like I keep saying, is we probably will be getting it in the summer because I will need to see Neuromancer. So we will binge watch a whole whack of crap.

Ryan (00:15:42 - 00:17:25): Oh, they, they have a lot of— I’m surprised. I’m glad I’ve got access to it right now because obviously I’m not watching anything right now, but, uh, like there’s a bunch of good shows between like, well, Murderbot, um, For All Mankind, The Foundation, Ted Lasso, um, the Godzilla one, uh, Monarch. Like, right there’s 5, you know, that’s 5 great shows right there. And Monarch, Ted Lasso, and For All Mankind have new seasons coming over the next couple of months. Um, I was very surprised to hear that the new season— there was a new season of For All Mankind coming out. That’s a cool one where it’s kind of the premise is, um, what if like the space race, like, you know, NASA and US and all that, they didn’t just, you know, stop everything, you know, give up going to space and to the moon after the few moon launches. And what if they, you know, put a base on the moon? What if that then went to Mars? Like there’s been The high-end, you know, lots more space travel with realistic happenings and things like that. So politics, it’s pretty good. Uh, so that’s it for like new trailers that I’ve got. Um, we had an announcement for a comic book series that’s been optioned to be, uh, uh, Amazon Prime TV series. Which will be a very interesting one to see when it, uh, if it ever gets made. The comic book series with the very not Google-friendly name of Sex Criminals.

Jen (00:17:27 - 00:17:28): Oh, didn’t we read that one?

Brent (00:17:28 - 00:17:31): I think you have an issue, or I don’t know if you have the trades.

Ryan (00:17:32 - 00:17:43): Yeah, yeah, I’ve got that run. I’ve got that, that series in trade. It’s, uh, Chip Zdarsky Art? Or did he?

Brent (00:17:44 - 00:17:47): Yeah, no, he drew it. Uh, Matt Fraction was the writer.

Ryan (00:17:47 - 00:17:58): Matt Fraction was the writer. That’s it. Uh, and so it’s been optioned. It’s been optioned by, uh, Kamal Nanjiani and, uh, being done at Amazon, possibly.

Jen (00:17:59 - 00:17:59): Interesting.

Ryan (00:18:01 - 00:18:07): It, and the premise of that book is very interesting. So it’d be very interesting to see. What they decide to put on screen.

Jen (00:18:08 - 00:18:08): Yeah.

Ryan (00:18:10 - 00:18:12): And how they shoot around things.

Brent (00:18:12 - 00:18:12): Mm.

Jen (00:18:13 - 00:18:21): Or do they shoot around things or how are they going to change the title so it’s more easily Googled?

Ryan (00:18:22 - 00:18:28): Yeah, it’ll be S3X or something like that. Yeah.

Jen (00:18:30 - 00:18:30): Yeah.

Ryan (00:18:34 - 00:19:14): Oh, criminal time. Um, okay, so now we’re into the sad news portion of the news broadcast. So earlier this month, uh, comic book legend, uh, Sal Bashema— yep, Bashema— passed away at the age of 89. Uh, there hasn’t really been much details as far as cause of death that I, that I saw. Um, possibly, you know, he’s 89, so could, you know, take it for what it is. Um, Brent, you’re more familiar with his artwork. Can you please fill in the class with some of his achievement achievements?

Brent (00:19:14 - 00:20:55): Yeah, Sal Buscema was like, he was like one of the workhorse guys of part of the, uh, Marvel bullpen. Uh, for like a number of years. He, uh, he would retire in like 2003 according to my notes here, but like he worked on so much stuff. Like if you have a comic that came out before like 1990 from Marvel, there’s a very good chance that you’ve got like a comic of his in your collection. Like he is Probably it’s his stuff on Spider-Man that people know the most. Like, he worked as an inker on it. He was on and off as an artist here and there. Um, he also did a lot of work on Conan the Barbarian, like the, the Marvel run of the book. Like, just looking at, like, I, I was curious because I pulled up, like, the list of stuff that he looked— he worked on, and there’s not a lot of DC, but he, like, did work on some DC stuff. But like going alphabetically, there’s very few characters that he didn’t work on, like, uh, like, um, of the mainstream Marvel stuff. Like he worked on Avengers for very long stretches. He worked on Captain America, on Conan, on Daredevil, on Fantastic Four, over and over again. He was, he was one of those guys who was really like good penciler, but it was like reliable, like he could get the shit done. And then, so it’s a long life, but still, you know, a bit sad.

Ryan (00:20:57 - 00:20:59): Yes. Uh, more proof that we are getting old.

Brent (00:21:00 - 00:21:00): Yes.

Ryan (00:21:02 - 00:21:11): And then, uh, so apparently following a brief illness, actress Catherine O’Hara passed away earlier today. She was 71 years old.

Jen (00:21:12 - 00:21:21): Yeah, that, that made me— that made me like more upset than I thought it would. But I think it’s because I’ve been watching Schitt’s Creek.

Ryan (00:21:22 - 00:21:27): Um, I know I’m late to the bandwagon, but I, I haven’t watched it yet, so—

Jen (00:21:27 - 00:21:55): oh, you have to watch it, it’s so good. Um, I’m almost done, I’m on season 6, but You know, maybe it’s because I’ve been watching her since like December. I’ve been binging Schitt’s Creek, so I feel like now it’s like, well, my— the last couple episodes that I watch, I’m gonna have it in my brain that she’s no longer with us, and that kind of makes me sad. But she was in so many things, like Home Alone movies. Yeah, Beetlejuice.

Ryan (00:21:56 - 00:21:56): Beetlejuice.

Brent (00:21:57 - 00:22:08): Yeah, it’s a— I didn’t— for— I knew this but kind of forgot that she’s the voice of Sally in The Nightmare Before Christmas. Like, not the singing voice, I don’t think, but just like the speaking voice.

Jen (00:22:09 - 00:22:16): Yeah, she’s the voice of one of— yeah, I was just gonna say she’s the voice of one of the Fraggles in the new Fraggle Rock.

Brent (00:22:16 - 00:22:17): Oh really?

Jen (00:22:17 - 00:22:20): I don’t know which. I’ve not seen that, so I don’t know which one.

Brent (00:22:20 - 00:22:23): Yeah, I was unaware that she was working on that show.

Ryan (00:22:24 - 00:22:34): Yeah, yeah, I just saw a picture of her like with one of the Fraggles like working one of the puppets. I was like, does she have a Fraggle connection or something? There Hmm.

Jen (00:22:35 - 00:22:51): I have a lot of— I have a lot of Muppet-related social media accounts that I follow. So it came up a fair bit, but I didn’t remember the name of like her character or how prevalent her character is in Muppets or in Fraggle Rock.

Brent (00:22:51 - 00:24:18): For me, it’s, you know, it’s SCTV where she was a great performer on it. But like until I got older, I didn’t realize like she was one of the like main writers on that show too, for like number of the seasons. So there’s that. Like, she obviously had— like, she became sort of part of like Tim Burton’s troupe of people with Beetlejuice, I guess, because she’s in Beetlejuice. She’s in, uh, she does like, as I previously mentioned, the, uh, the voice for, uh, Nightmare Before Christmas— or sorry, yeah, Nightmare Before Christmas. And like, you know, she was on Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, which just came out not too long ago. She’s, uh, she was in Argyle. Like, her credits are like, they’re all like over the place. I didn’t realize she’s in Dick Tracy, but she’s very, very briefly. She doesn’t have a speaking role, but she’s— there’s a scene, I want to say it’s towards the start of the movie, maybe a little bit later, where like, uh, Big Boy gathers all the various mobsters in town and they’re all sitting around a table and like conversing and like planning out like their next Like plans. She is a Texi Garcia. She’s sitting there. She doesn’t actually get to say anything, but she is there in that movie. So, huh, that’s, uh, that’s cool.

Ryan (00:24:19 - 00:24:20): Uh, I didn’t realize she was from Toronto.

Brent (00:24:22 - 00:25:15): Yep. Yeah, she’s, she’s part of that, uh, if I’m not mistaken, she’s part of that same group, uh, that— so the, the legend of SCTV is that half of the cast comes out of Second City, and then a good chunk of it comes out of the, um, whatchamacallit, out of the— there’s a performance of Godspell, I think, where— and they all sort of like merge and end up at Second City and then doing SCTV as a show. But, uh, yeah, it’s, uh, that like she just got nominated for like Emmys too. Yeah, because she’s on, uh, what’s that, The Studio? She did some guest appearances on the, the, the Apple show that, uh, Seth Rogen’s got going.

Jen (00:25:16 - 00:25:50): Yeah, she was working right up to the end, it seems. Um, so, so yeah, that’s, uh a lot sadder news than, than like usually when a celebrity passes away. I, I mean, anytime somebody dies, you’re like, oh, that’s too bad, because you know, you don’t know them. You don’t— like, they’re not your friends. You don’t— you’ve seen them on a screen, you don’t know who they are. But every once in a while you get one who is really like, ah, that, that— it’s like you’re more upset than you thought you’d be, really.

Ryan (00:25:54 - 00:26:01): Um, and so that’s it for me for news, unless you guys have anything you want to bring up.

Brent (00:26:02 - 00:26:04): No, uh, let’s go to like—

Jen (00:26:04 - 00:27:40): oh, sorry, I have sort of news. Oh, since I, since I don’t have my own, uh, toy-related podcast, um, I just want— and I’m pretty sure you guys don’t talk about dolls on Collectorverse. I just wanted to mention that, uh, they are putting out a line of K-pop Demon Hunter dolls that are less expensive than the fancy Barbie ones, and they look really good. So, oh, they’re supposed to be coming in the fall of this year, and they have the 3 main girls and, uh, Jinwoo, the main male, uh antagonists, I suppose. Uh, they’re articulated dolls. They’re in their like regular clothes, so like, uh, Rumi in her yellow jacket, and, um, uh, the Barbie dolls, they’re in one of their performance outfits. So it’s a little bit of a different outfit. Uh, it looks like it’s gonna be like— I’m just looking at like a close-up of one of the pictures. Like, the shorts and everything are cloth, so it’s not like it has real zippers or anything, but the jacket looks like it’s going to be plastic or pleather. Um, so like, it looks like it’s not going to be super cheap material other than possibly the pants. Um, and they’re all— like I said, they’re all articulated and they have their weapons. And for, I’m assuming, $26.99 US, uh, so they’ll probably be what, like $40 or $50 Canadian? Uh, that’s pretty good. It’s gonna be less than the Barbie dolls, not by a hell of a lot, but still less. And I’ll still get my K-pop Demon Hunter dolls.

Ryan (00:27:41 - 00:27:42): Do you know who’s putting them out?

Jen (00:27:43 - 00:27:58): I think it’s Mattel. Oh yeah, so this is their like quote-unquote budget line, um, which is, you know, still expensive but not as expensive as the— like, how much are the Barbies? Like $210?

Ryan (00:27:58 - 00:28:02): Yeah, yeah.

Jen (00:28:02 - 00:28:19): Where’s the Barbies? They’re also— the other thing, if you’re a doll collector, is they’re also doing a K-pop Demon Hunters, uh, America— American Girl line. Which I am not a fan of American Girl, and personally I think it’s very creepy to see the K-pop demon hunters as babies.

Brent (00:28:20 - 00:28:23): They’re also— they have their weapons figures too.

Jen (00:28:24 - 00:28:38): Yeah, I don’t know if the act— what the action figures are gonna look too much like. Um, they might be, uh, I, yeah, I find that they have a hard time sometimes getting faces right for female action figures.

Ryan (00:28:39 - 00:28:44): But, um, I guess it comes down to what the animation style and the figures—

Jen (00:28:45 - 00:29:12): oh, here we go, I found the Barbie. So the Barbies, they’re not— they’re sold out, but they were $220 Canadian for all three. So I feel like it’s going to be, what, uh, about $150 for the budget line. So it’s still saving me a fair bit. And because they’re in completely different outfits, if I ever did want to buy these ones Or if I had the opportunity to buy them, they come on sale or on the auction site or something, I would be able to.

Ryan (00:29:12 - 00:29:29): There you go. Well, I’m sure we’ll get a real good look at them in the next couple of weeks because, uh, on the long weekend on Family Day. So around Valentine’s Day as well, that weekend is New York Toy Fair.

Jen (00:29:31 - 00:29:31): Yay.

Ryan (00:29:32 - 00:29:47): And, uh, Ed and I plan on recording following that, following that weekend. So we get an episode out in February. Uh, I thought, you know, no point in recording before Toy Fair because all the new announcements are going to happen there. So there’ll be plenty of talk and we can be timely about it.

Jen (00:29:47 - 00:29:51): So all the stuff that’s going to come out in the States that we probably won’t get in Canada.

Ryan (00:29:52 - 00:29:55): Well, we can, you just gotta, you know, look around for it. That’s all.

Brent (00:29:55 - 00:29:58): And who knows if their society collapsed, they got to go somewhere.

Jen (00:30:00 - 00:30:01): Here’s hoping.

Ryan (00:30:02 - 00:30:05): That’s assuming if their society collapses that they still put toys out.

Jen (00:30:06 - 00:30:45): Yeah, I just find that especially a lot of the dolls and, and like the quote-unquote girl toys, I, I don’t see them coming to Canada, at least anywhere where I can buy them. The, um, the Loyal Subjects is a good example. Like, none of the Gem dolls made it here. Um, Brent did get me one for Christmas, which I love, but, uh, none of the— they did like the first wave of the Strawberry Shortcake and, um, uh, Rainbow Brite line, like even the little chibi figures. But they never did. There’s been like 5 other waves in the States and they never— and none of those came back, came to Canada. Even the Funko Pops didn’t make it to Canada.

Ryan (00:30:46 - 00:30:51): So did your husband tell you about all the Strawberry Shortcake dolls that we have at the store right now?

Jen (00:30:52 - 00:30:55): He did. I already have them, but thank you.

Ryan (00:30:56 - 00:30:58): I’m just thinking I’d put that out here now.

Jen (00:30:58 - 00:31:34): Yeah, no, it was, uh, of all of my childhood toys that my mother decided to keep, she kept all of the Strawberry Shortcakes, which is fantastic. Oh yeah. So I have basically, I was missing like a couple of odds and ends here and there, but other than that, I have all of my Strawberry Shortcake dolls and the big house and all the furniture for the big house. So yeah. One of these days I’ll put it all together. Anyway, yep, that’s, that’s my toy news. I’m excited. I’m gonna get some K-pop Demon Hunter dolls and it’s not gonna cost me nearly $300.

Ryan (00:31:35 - 00:31:36): Wonderful.

Brent (00:31:40 - 00:32:15): Alrighty, so, uh, from there we go to Wonder Man available on Disney Plus. Uh, the entire series has dropped there. We’re going to take a look at like first batch of episodes, kinda, and there may be spoilers. Consider this your warning. Uh, fast forward to the end of the show to get all the credits and stuff if you don’t want it to be spoiled for you. Um, I like the show a lot. I’m sure it is— I haven’t looked, but I’m sure it’s pissing off the same people that She-Hulk basically pissed off.

Wonder Man Discussion

Ryan (00:32:17 - 00:32:24): Um, I don’t know about that because I think a lot of people that were pissed off for She-Hulk were misogynistic guys and stuff.

Brent (00:32:25 - 00:32:39): And yeah, but those guys also tend to be racist. So true, true. And you know, Wonder Man’s not black. Like you gave two shits about Wonder Man to begin with.

Ryan (00:32:40 - 00:32:43): So how many episodes have you guys made it in?

Jen (00:32:44 - 00:32:45): Uh, 4, I think.

Brent (00:32:46 - 00:32:46): Finished 4.

Jen (00:32:47 - 00:32:48): Oh yeah, we just finished Doorman.

Ryan (00:32:49 - 00:32:57): Okay, so I was gonna say which one was episode for Doorman. Okay, now I know where you guys are. Yeah, because I finished the series already. Yeah, I finished it last night.

Brent (00:32:57 - 00:32:59): So yeah, so don’t spoil the ending for us this morning.

Ryan (00:33:00 - 00:33:02): I finished it this morning. No, yep, no, I won’t.

Jen (00:33:02 - 00:33:21): So when I originally saw the, uh, the, the, the trailer, the teaser or whatever it was for this, well, the first time we talked about it on the podcast, I was like, eh, I don’t know who Wonder Man is. I don’t really care. This is like whatever, but I’m really enjoying it. And I think it’s largely because of Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery.

Ryan (00:33:22 - 00:33:23): Again, he is great.

Jen (00:33:24 - 00:33:44): He’s amazing. But this— I don’t even care that it’s not overly superhero. I kind of like it because it’s kind of neat to see the superhero. He knows he has superpowers and he’s hiding it. Um, it’s nice to see it from that side of the world. Or yeah, he’s just trying to be a regular guy.

Ryan (00:33:45 - 00:33:47): Yeah, that’s overthinking his parts.

Jen (00:33:47 - 00:33:54): And I know I love— I was watching that, that, that, it’s like in the first episode, I’m like, dude, just shut up. Just, just shut up, dude.

Ryan (00:33:54 - 00:33:55): Just—

Jen (00:33:55 - 00:34:18): ah, damn it, he got fired. Yeah. Um, so I really— and I love the character development. Um, I already know, and I’m not looking forward to the moment where Simon Wonder Man finds out that Trevor has been betraying him, because I’m like, oh, I don’t want that to happen. But I really love how—

Ryan (00:34:19 - 00:34:20): it’s a good sequence, I bet.

Jen (00:34:21 - 00:34:47): I really love how, um, you know, in the first episode Trevor is like, eh, whatever, you know, I have media out of my palm of my hand, I got it. And now it’s only been like 3 episodes and he’s already really gaining like a genuine feeling for this guy, like friendship feelings I should say. So he’s like, yeah, he’s already building like an actual relationship with him, and I kind of love that.

Ryan (00:34:48 - 00:35:17): Yeah, this show, I find it has a lot of heart. Oh yeah, like it’s, it’s very different from all the other, like Jen was saying, like Marvel and superhero shows and that it’s, it’s small. It’s its own little thing playing in its own little corner. There’s not really any— well, other than the Department of Damage Control, you know, mentions of the—

Jen (00:35:17 - 00:35:20): AKA ICE. Yeah, yeah.

Ryan (00:35:22 - 00:35:48): Mentions of, of the Mandarin. And then a few other heroes here and there getting name dropped just in like side conversations. Um, you have no idea when this is taking place really, as far as, or what’s, or as far as like what’s going on. Like we don’t, there’s no talk about the, you know, how the president turned out to be a Red Hulk. There’s no talk about this giant floating thing out in the ocean.

Jen (00:35:49 - 00:35:50): Um, yeah.

Ryan (00:35:51 - 00:36:20): All the other like big beats that have happened recently. Uh, there’s nothing about, you know, this giant shadow making people disappear in New York City. Uh, it’s just its own little thing. And, you know, about this actor trying to get a job and has to hide his power because of, you know, the doorman policies. Because, you know, one thing happened and insurance rates were, you know, through the roof for anybody, you know, for films to have super people on them.

Jen (00:36:21 - 00:36:30): That cracked me up so badly, the doorman. But it’s because— here’s the spoiler part— because Josh Gad disappeared.

Ryan (00:36:32 - 00:36:35): Got sucked— jumped into a guy and never came out.

Jen (00:36:36 - 00:36:37): It was like, that’s so funny.

Brent (00:36:38 - 00:37:07): It did not occur to me because it gets mentioned very, very quickly and briefly in one of the episodes with, like, where Ben Kingsley is like, why aren’t superpowered people allowed in Hollywood? And he is like, uh, he mentions something along the lines of Gad and doorman, and, and Ben Kingsley is like, what, what? Trevor Slattery is like, what, what do you mean? He’s like, oh, it’s, it’s just too, too— never mind. So now we get the full backstory.

Jen (00:37:07 - 00:37:16): Yeah, see, and I don’t even— yeah, I don’t even remember when that comment was, was mentioned. Like, if I ever go back and watch it again, I’m gonna have to keep my ears peeled for it.

Ryan (00:37:16 - 00:37:17): Yeah, I didn’t catch that one either.

Jen (00:37:18 - 00:37:23): Um, because Brent was like, oh, that’s what they meant by the doorman policy, and I was like, What?

Brent (00:37:23 - 00:37:33): Speaking of which, Doorman being in this show was— and like being a fairly significant plot point— not on my bingo card.

Ryan (00:37:34 - 00:37:35): Is Doorman a real character?

Brent (00:37:36 - 00:37:38): Yeah, he’s in the Great Lakes Avengers.

Ryan (00:37:38 - 00:37:39): I did not know that.

Jen (00:37:40 - 00:37:48): See, and I’m equal now. I’m even more pissed off that Squirrel Girl hasn’t made it into any of these shows. Really? Doorman before Squirrel Girl? Like, come on.

Ryan (00:37:48 - 00:37:53): Yeah, but when she shows up, she deserves to be a main character. Not just a side, you know, a doorman.

Jen (00:37:54 - 00:37:59): I mean, at this point I’m getting ready to take what I can get, but yes, she does deserve to be a main character.

Ryan (00:38:02 - 00:38:12): Um, yeah, it’s been well acted. Um, having finished the show, I’ve really enjoyed it. It, uh, yeah, I don’t want to spoil it.

Jen (00:38:12 - 00:38:12): Satisfying ending?

Ryan (00:38:14 - 00:38:15): Uh, yeah, I like the ending.

Jen (00:38:16 - 00:38:23): Good. We’ll probably finish it. Well, I guess I’m going away this weekend, but we’ll probably finish it soon. Oh yeah.

Ryan (00:38:24 - 00:38:28): Well, and that’s one thing with the episodes, only half an hour long, so they’re easy to take in.

Jen (00:38:29 - 00:38:29): Yeah.

Ryan (00:38:30 - 00:38:40): Now the one big complaint I’m seeing on the internet from people is the same complaint they get for some things, is that they wished it wasn’t dropped all at once.

Jen (00:38:41 - 00:38:41): Hmm.

Ryan (00:38:42 - 00:39:02): And part of me understands that complaint and that, you know, I bet I, you know, having watched it and seen how much I enjoyed it and I thought that it was good, that if there was like, you know, 2 episodes, then, you know, you know, a weekly episode drop, I could see it building word of mouth.

Jen (00:39:03 - 00:39:04): Yeah.

Ryan (00:39:04 - 00:39:32): And getting good buzz and people being like, hey, you know, we should check this out. I can’t— oh, you think this is gonna happen? Oh, did you— oh, did you see that Doorman episode last last night. We finally got to learn what the doorman thing was, what that’s all about. And now this way it was like, okay, it came out on Tuesday, Tuesday night, so it’s been out for a few days. You can— it’s— you watched it and be done with it. And yeah, don’t know if it’ll get the same buzz.

Jen (00:39:33 - 00:39:49): Yeah, I feel like that what you’re saying, that happens a lot these days with with shows is that you don’t get a whole lot of chatter about them except for like, I guess, certain ones. But for the most part, it’s not like the olden days, right? Yeah.

Ryan (00:39:50 - 00:39:59): You get a lot of, you know, for those, you get to hear a lot more of the people complaining about things even if they haven’t watched it versus the people that are watching it and liking it.

Brent (00:40:00 - 00:40:00): Yeah.

Ryan (00:40:02 - 00:40:31): You know, kind of explains, you know, makes sense why Like Netflix broke up the Stranger Things season, the last season into chunks to build and say, okay, well, here’s, we know you’re used to seeing it all at once, but well, here’s a couple episodes and then we’ll make you wait a month so you can talk about what you’re going to get. And then here’s another couple episodes and we’ll make you wait a few days for the finale. And here’s the finale. And then the fans went crazy thinking, well, that’s not the real finale, right? Right. There’s, there’s more, right?

Brent (00:40:32 - 00:40:32): Right.

Jen (00:40:33 - 00:41:02): Ah, they do that with Bridgerton too. So like the first. Part of season 4 of Bridgerton has just aired, I think yesterday. Uh, but then the second part isn’t until the end of February. So I, I am of the opinion where I just, especially with Bridgerton, I’m like, I’m just gonna binge it because I want to just binge it. And also if I watch half of it now and not for the other half for a month, I’m not going to remember what happened in the first half. I have a bad memory. I’m old.

Ryan (00:41:02 - 00:41:07): That’s why they expect you to watch it because you want to watch it and then have to watch it again before you watch the next piece.

Jen (00:41:07 - 00:41:09): I also don’t have time for that.

Ryan (00:41:10 - 00:41:11): Then you’re not a real fan.

Jen (00:41:11 - 00:41:14): I’m old and busy. No, apparently not.

Brent (00:41:16 - 00:41:20): So are we all of the agreement that the show is pretty solid?

Ryan (00:41:21 - 00:41:21): Yep.

Jen (00:41:22 - 00:41:28): Yeah. So, okay, what happened to Trevor at the end of Shang-Chi? Does anybody remember?

Ryan (00:41:30 - 00:41:44): I think when last we see him like they don’t spell anything out. So I assumed, I assumed he’s hung out in Shang— in like that pocket dimension or that other, that other world from—

Jen (00:41:44 - 00:41:53): or whatever it was called. Yeah, that’s why I assumed that was the thing that I wasn’t sure about. I was like, where was he and when did he come back?

Ryan (00:41:53 - 00:42:00): And well, he just came back to the States. Yeah, I guess just before the start of this show, I would assume.

Jen (00:42:01 - 00:42:07): You know, we are to assume So is he in, uh, Kwan Long that whole time, or whatever it’s called?

Ryan (00:42:07 - 00:42:09): Yeah, that’s a good question.

Jen (00:42:10 - 00:42:11): What happened to his flying monster?

Ryan (00:42:12 - 00:42:19): Well, he stayed with his family because he got home flying.

Jen (00:42:19 - 00:42:21): I don’t know, kind of made me want to watch Shang-Chi again.

Ryan (00:42:21 - 00:42:23): That was a good movie.

Jen (00:42:24 - 00:42:27): Yeah, yeah, we only watched it once. I remember enjoying it.

Ryan (00:42:28 - 00:42:55): The one thing I did find interesting was at the end of the last episode, well, after the credits, no, so just, there’s no after credit scenes, nothing. I waited, but you know, you watch on Disney Plus and then it pops up, especially I had it on my iPad eating breakfast and it pops up telling you the, uh, oh, here, you know, something, something next show you might be interested in watching type thing. And it was, uh, a little button for to go to watch, uh, Iron Man 3.

Jen (00:42:57 - 00:42:59): That’s the one he was the Mandarin in, right?

Ryan (00:42:59 - 00:43:01): That’s the one he was the Mandarin in.

Jen (00:43:01 - 00:43:20): Yes. I love that part. I think it was when he was doing his audition for, uh, whatever, Wonder Man’s sidekick, Barnaby— Barnabas. Anyway, and the person was like, where do I know him from? And they’re like, I think he’s a terrorist. That cracked me up too.

Ryan (00:43:21 - 00:43:30): Yeah. It was enjoyable how often that comes up with people like, “Weren’t you the Mandarin?” “Oh shit, you’re the Mandarin!” Yeah.

Jen (00:43:32 - 00:43:38): See, so I found it interesting there was a lot of callbacks to that, but nothing to Shang-Chi. Yeah.

Ryan (00:43:38 - 00:43:46): Well, he— I think there’s a part at some point he makes an offhand joke about living in a pocket dimension.

Jen (00:43:46 - 00:43:47): Oh, okay.

Ryan (00:43:47 - 00:44:02): But I don’t know if it’s just like a joke, if he’s referring to some time or, or they— or what it was, if it was just like, you know, oh yeah, that’s why I haven’t been around, or like, uh, that’s why I didn’t pay you back for that money, is because, you know, I was living in a pocket dimension. Yeah, that’s right.

Jen (00:44:04 - 00:44:19): See, that, that made that— yeah, well, based on all of the stories we hear that this— his character says, and you wonder how many of them are actually true, having that slide out, I guess whoever he was talking to would just be like, yeah, yeah, yeah, another one of your stories.

Ryan (00:44:19 - 00:44:22): Yeah. So especially for all the drugs he used to do.

Jen (00:44:22 - 00:44:29): Yeah. And it makes me wonder if, uh, you know, maybe more of his stories are true. Yeah.

Brent (00:44:31 - 00:44:31): Cool.

Jen (00:44:31 - 00:44:33): Yeah, so definitely people should watch this.

Patreon and Community

Brent (00:44:34 - 00:46:05): Yes, yes. Uh, I, I talked with, uh, a friend of the show and, uh, podcast host in his own right, uh, Nate Milton, via messaging today. And I’m like, yeah, it’s— I messaged him because I was on one of his shows, uh, Super Salad, talking about the, uh, the show before it came out. I’m like, I’m really digging it. He’s like, I’m like episode 3. And he messaged me back, he’s like, I mainlined the whole thing. Work sucked the next day. So cool. Alrighty, um, that brings us towards the end of this episode, but first, patreon.com/TrueNorthNerds. Uh, if you would like to help keep the lights on on the show, you can, uh, support us by donating $3 a month on our Patreon. And for that, you get a shout out, and you also get some exclusive content here and there, including, uh, episodes episodes of Listen to This, the music podcast I do with Alex, as well as— fingers crossed— Kung Fu Island Season 2, starring myself and the aforementioned Nate Milton. So, um, it’s, uh, yeah. So, uh, thanks and shoutouts go to Drew, Karina, Alex, Team Woods, Mike Hammond, and our good friend Rex. Thank you. Anybody want to have a geek pick they want to start with?

Geek Picks

Jen (00:46:08 - 00:46:08): Brian does.

Brent (00:46:08 - 00:46:09): Crickets.

Ryan (00:46:09 - 00:46:40): Oh, thanks, Jen. Um, I was trying to think of something new and different that I’ve been reading or watching, which I haven’t been because I’ve just been reading the same comics and same books and trying to get through them that I’ve already talked about before. Uh, but I did start rewatching another show. Uh, it’s not really a, I guess it’s a geeky show depending on what kind of geeky things you’re into. Uh, if you happen to be like a political geeky type person, um, I started rewatching The White House.

Brent (00:46:42 - 00:46:43): The White House.

Jen (00:46:43 - 00:46:43): I don’t even know what that is.

Ryan (00:46:46 - 00:47:05): It’s old now. It’s the, the series that had, um, uh, I think— oh shit, one of you guys has your windows open. If I start clicking on things, um, as soon as you see it, you know, it’s— it was a drama. I think it’s Aaron Sorkin.

Brent (00:47:06 - 00:47:07): Oh, you mean The West Wing?

Ryan (00:47:08 - 00:47:09): Yeah, I was gonna say The White House.

Brent (00:47:09 - 00:47:11): Yes, yes, you did.

Jen (00:47:11 - 00:47:12): I don’t know what The West Wing is.

Ryan (00:47:12 - 00:47:18): Sorry. Which also explains why when I tried to look it up the one time I typed that in, And not the West Wing.

Jen (00:47:19 - 00:47:19): Yeah.

Ryan (00:47:19 - 00:47:22): That explains why I couldn’t find it when I was looking for it online.

Brent (00:47:22 - 00:47:23): With Martin Sheen and Bradley Whitford.

Ryan (00:47:25 - 00:47:25): Yeah. Oh yeah.

Jen (00:47:25 - 00:47:26): No, everybody’s heard of that one.

Ryan (00:47:27 - 00:47:28): I’m fired.

Jen (00:47:28 - 00:47:29): Yeah.

Ryan (00:47:29 - 00:48:00): Everybody’s heard of it. That’s why I was like, oh, that’s why I was like, what do you mean? You just don’t know what show I’m talking about. Um, but yeah, so it’s on Rogers On Demand because it’s airing on Detour, which is a great channel. They’ve got episodes of Chuck on there right now too. It’s one of those, you know, channels was like, oh, all these great ’90s shows are on there. I think Buffy might be on there too. Um, but, uh, the only thing I can’t watch it, but I tend not to watch it actually live on TV because it’s on at like 10 o’clock at night, 10 and 11. So that’s past my bedtime.

Jen (00:48:00 - 00:48:01): Yeah, that’s way too late.

Ryan (00:48:01 - 00:48:09): But then I found it was on demand. So I started with the pilot, with the first episode. So I’m on to like episode 3 in my rewatch of The West Wing.

Brent (00:48:10 - 00:49:10): Cool. Uh, I’ve often mentioned one of the, the best shot episodes they ever did is, um, after Martin Sheen’s, uh, President Bartlett, after his presidency is over, they have that season where it’s like the election year. And, um, there’s a debate episode between the two nominees, one of which is played by Jimmy Smits and the other is played by Alan Alda. And I caught that episode by accident and I was like, why, why are Jimmy Smiths and Alan Alda having a debate on the environment? Like, it was like so well put together. I thought they were having a legit political debate for some reason because they even like, they, they changed the, the how it was shot. So it like, like the, um, I guess it was shot on video as opposed to film like the most of the series was. So it like, it looks like the quality of a debate footage.

Ryan (00:49:11 - 00:49:11): Hmm.

Brent (00:49:12 - 00:49:17): It was wild. And like, you have a ways to go before you hit that.

Ryan (00:49:17 - 00:49:29): Oh, yeah. I’ve watched the series years ago, but to the point, it’s been so long too, to the point where it’s like, yeah, I don’t, I don’t know anything that’s happening.

Brent (00:49:29 - 00:49:30): Like, who’s going to—

Ryan (00:49:30 - 00:49:33): what’s going to happen? So it’s like watching it again for the first time.

Brent (00:49:33 - 00:49:36): It ran from 1999 to 2006.

Ryan (00:49:37 - 00:49:47): Yeah, I think when I first moved in here and got like, I think I feel like I may have streamed it through Netflix or something like that and watched it.

Brent (00:49:50 - 00:49:50): Cool.

Ryan (00:49:50 - 00:49:51): Who’s next?

Brent (00:49:51 - 00:49:54): Jen is next because I always go last.

Jen (00:49:54 - 00:51:01): All right. So I just finished listening to a book. It’s a nice cozy fantasy called A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping. By Sangu Mandana, um, and it is about a witch who loses her magical powers because she resurrects her, uh, great aunt, uh, from who dies, uh, and so the cost is she loses all of her magic, um, and then she ends up running— she’s— so she’s running this, uh, magical inn that she has and she’s trying to get her magic back But of course, you know, she has some hand— another handsome witch shows up to stay at the inn and, you know, there’s romance in the air, but it’s not the kind of like against the wall sexual romancing. It’s like a very sweet, gradual, cozy romance. Uh, it kind of made me cry in my car a couple times, which is not great when you’re driving to work and then you have to go to work and people are looking at you and I’m like, I swear I’m not sad.

Ryan (00:51:01 - 00:51:01): It was my book.

Jen (00:51:02 - 00:51:24): Um, but she also wrote, um, another book that was The Very Irregular Society of Witches, I think. And that was another very nice cozy fantasy, uh, which I probably also, uh, used as a geek pick. So if you’re into that kind of thing, I highly recommend A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping. Brent?

Brent (00:51:26 - 00:53:38): So I am going to, uh, not only recommend a podcast, but a specific episode of that podcast. I’ve been listening to, as of late, this podcast called Blank Check with Griffin and David. It’s a movie podcast hosted by Griffin Newman, who played Arthur on the Amazon version, the Amazon Prime version of The Tick. And, uh, the— and film critic David Sims. And the— in particular, I started listening to— they did a series on John Carpenter’s films, which I’m a big John Carpenter fan, so it was an easy listen to. But there is an episode on Big Trouble in Little China that guest stars Jason Mantzoukas and Paul Scheer from, uh, How Did This Get Made? And it’s a— one, they do a really good job of reviewing the movie, but it also delves into the uniqueness of Kurt Russell as ’80s action star at the time and how he was so different than like some of the other guys like the Schwarzeneggers and the, the Stallones and guys of that nature. Um, and, and especially through this movie and how like in many ways like we’ve, we know The Rock was the last one who was going to like do a remake or a sequel, Big Trouble in Little China. And they even talk about how like in this day and age with actor, like action actors in particular, none of them are like the same as Kurt Russell in terms of they won’t poke that much fun at themselves. And that is part of the joy of Big Trouble in Little China. I really like— if you like movies and especially like John Carpenter stuff, I really recommend the series, but in particular the episode of Big Trouble in Little China, which is, uh, episode 344 of their show. So wow. Yeah.

Jen (00:53:38 - 00:53:48): Uh, every time you say John Carpenter, I always want to go, John Carpenter of Mars? Yes, and I know that drives you nuts, so I did not do it this time.

Ryan (00:53:52 - 00:54:01): I appreciate it, Jen. Well, you’ve made him silent. He’s just fucking scrolling now.

Closing

Brent (00:54:01 - 00:54:22): Yep, my, my brain is— it hurts. Ah, anyways, that is it for this episode. Uh, we will be back in 2 weeks with another episode. Um, there is tons of stuff on the way, so, um, so, you know, like and subscribe, share us with your friends.

Ryan (00:54:22 - 00:54:46): Yep. Uh, do a, you know, if you, if you liked it, you know, write something down, you know, interact with us on your, uh, you know, on Facebook or Instagram. Uh, you can find us at True North Nerds on Instagram and True North Nerds on Facebook. Uh, if you want to, uh, write a review on your podcast platform of choice, that would be great. 5 stars across the board. Yes. We’re listening again.

Jen (00:54:47 - 00:54:47): Yes.

Ryan (00:54:48 - 00:54:54): Uh, all these little things help spread the gospel of True Northeners.

Jen (00:54:56 - 00:54:57): We’re a religion now.

Brent (00:55:00 - 00:55:03): Does that mean we get tax-exempt status?

Ryan (00:55:04 - 00:55:05): No, we’re just a cult. We’re not a religion.

Brent (00:55:05 - 00:55:07): We’re just a cult. Boo!

Jen (00:55:08 - 00:55:10): Wait, cults have to pay taxes? That doesn’t seem right.

Brent (00:55:11 - 00:55:15): Yeah, well, they should pay taxes, but who knows whether they actually do.

Ryan (00:55:15 - 00:55:18): Government, you know, that’s why the governments end up knocking on their door with the guns.

Brent (00:55:19 - 00:55:31): Ah, anyway, anyway, anyway, thank you very much for listening. Uh, we will be back in 2 weeks, and as always, Obama stay.

Jen (00:55:32 - 00:55:35): Bye! Set your phasers to sexy!

Outro

Rex (00:55:36 - 00:56:04): Thank you for listening to the True North Nerds. You can find us at truenorthnerds.com, on Facebook, X, and Instagram at True North Nerds. To contact one or any of the nerds, email them at truenorthnerds@gmail.com. Theme music provided by Kirby Crackle. You can find more of their music at kirbycracklemusic.com. If you’d like to support the show, please consider becoming a Patreon at patreon.com/TrueNorthNerds, or go to your podcast app of choice and rate and review us.

Kirby Crackle (00:56:04 - 00:56:19): [Theme song lyrics omitted for copyright compliance.]