Fire Escape Cast #102

Hello, everybody, Welcome back to the fire Escape Cast. It is episode one O two. I'm Mike Mahardy, your host as always here with Dan Rikert, Hey and Mary.

Fuck cool cool.

I don't do that anymore. Let me restart. Hey, what was the bit I used to like sound disappointed that I was in tro I'm Mike Mahardy, your host is always here with Dan Riikert, Hello and Mary.

Kish A little more, a little more, a little more. Yeah, that's right.

Down south Nan.

They refer to Porta Viera Me.

What were you doing there?

Is my first time. I've never been to Mexico before, and I wanted to get away from Portland's reign in the Pacific. Northwest has a really heavy rain season that's usually like four months long. So we escaped for five days and went to porta Verta. I don't know a lot about the different areas of Mexico, but porta Verta is very touristy. It's like, very clearly built to sit on a beach, have people bring you margarita's and that's it, and then you just sit there and you get drunk.

Have you been to Cabo? It sounds like Cabo to me.

It sounds like Cabo. I have not been to.

Cabo, Okay, very resort and touristy, yeah, I said on the beach, all inclusive stuff like, yeah, that's fun.

You don't really see too much like authentic culture. I feel like it's built around the tourism. But that's okay

Were any of them even remotely resembling of like a Taco Bell taco?

Yeah?

Yeah, there was a Caesadia Okay.

Well, okay, well, Taco White. Because here's the thing.

I've been to a million like authentic Mexican places, and of course, you know, like they're great, but like I am always a bit shocked that, like because my knowledge, my dumb American knowledge of Mexican food is Taco Bell which is not a Mexican food and everything's just drenched and cheese, not even taco bell. If you just go to like growing up in Kansas City, it's just like, oh, all these you know, quote unquote Mexican places were just

Yeah?

I think this is a fair question from you specifically, like how.

You you couched it and saying it's a fair question from you specifically, So.

I understand it. Yes, I don't disagree.

It's just a funny phrase. Sorry.

There are food trucks that are very focused on the meat and the salsa, which is very important to most of these food trucks, which are like local people. These are people who make their living doing this, and so they are making these salsas by scratch, and they are sourcing their own meat and making them and so there's no cheese on those tacos. That taco consists of usually pork and or beef and then cilantro and maybe maybe

Taste, Yeah, not all cheese has a strong.

Yeah, even like sometimes nacho cheese, it's not tasty. It's like more of a dipping excursion. It's like avocado.

It's like a texture thing. It's like avocado doesn't have the strongest flavor, but it's like pleasurable to eat.

Yeah, and you can put stuff in it that tastes good. Right, That's how guawk exists. And I feel the same way with queso, which is like a queso in America at least like we have like all this crap that we put in it, so it gives cheese, nacho cheese like a lot of flavor. So in these food trucks, the cheese that they put on these tacos is so flavorful

Ten bucks total total. Oh shit, that's awesome.

I know you have a.

Lot of good it's not.

I had a lot of Margarita's. I am a mez cow girl, so I did a lot of mez cows smoky drinks.

Does in Jalisco, I believe, which is where most tequila comes from.

They had they had tequila tours. I didn't do a tequila tour. I only did the food tour I was. I was not adventurous this trip. I didn't do any excursions. I didn't like. I didn't ride my bike, you know what I mean. I didn't like. I didn't do shit. I specifically did one food tour and then the rest of the trip I basically sat on a beach and

We we're uh, we just booked ten days in Ireland in June, and we liked what we did in France, whereas like there's that section in the middle where we kind of just relaxed, went to a nice hotel, did

Have you heard of people who are like, I need a vacation after that vacation because it was very exhausting and they did a lot. I think this is an interesting topic because I have a girlfriend who's husband vacations very differently than she does. She's a relaxing girly like me. She likes to sit and do nothing. She wants to sleep in on her holidays and like worry about what she's gonna eat for dinner that night, Like that's what

Sure, Yeah, there's there's something to that.

I feel like like when Bonka and I travel, uh, I think you know, she does a lot of the planning.

Uh, Like like with the Rubo when we went there, and.

It's like, okay, so we're gonna have these days where it's like we're gonna get up in the morning, we're gonna do We're gonna ride horses by the shore and do all this stuff, and then we got a really nice like dinner reserve for later in the evening. But then there's this four hour chunk in between where it's specifically we're keeping this open so we can just kind of like hang out and walk along the beach.

Or just kind of explore or go to a bar or whatever.

And I think that was that's a good mix, you know, because like you go to a place like that and you want be able to relax, but also you want to like parasale and ride horses and do all that stuff, so you can kind of get both of your planet, right, Yeah.

There's a balance some of the some of like the relaxing days end up being my favorite.

Yeah.

Like again, halfway through our long French trip, there was one day when both of us were exhausted and well, we don't have anything, plants just kind of wander around. We ended up stumbling on supposedly one of the more famous like farmers markets in central France. Ended up just cooking at the airbnb that night and having wine from around the area that we had found, which was awesome and did not have to stay up past like nine thirty pm.

Alright, yeah, that sounds good.

I think the mix is good. You don't want to like you don't want to do nothing your whole trip either, and like have no memories, like because even sitting by the pool it's nice, but like you probably want to have a couple good fun things that happened. I just think I'm more of a spur of the moment person, not a planned adventure person. On our last night, where like, it's our last night, let's go out, And so we

Or I'm more of a planner than my wife. We both liked to I think we both like the balance. Like for Ireland, for example, we've got we booked a restaurant in each city we're gonna We're going from Dublin to Cork to Galway, but we're leaving some time to find some like roadside pubs and spots between and little fishing towns. But I'm generally the one who planned stuff. But I'm definitely not opposed at all to sitting by

Oh my God.

Yeah, yeah, went through like three packs of Magnums. No, I'm just kidding, just clarifying. So I was sick though what else is new? Oh, I've been I'm just gonna keep going. We have been watching the Bond movies. We're

But he is the most right.

Yeah, he's got six or seven and we liked him at first, even though his first movie was weird and bad and racist. But his first one Live and Let Die. But by the end, uh, his last one was A View to a Kill, which Christopher Walking was the villain. I actually liked it more than I thought I would based on That's like when is the Henchwoman. He's get a he got he gets a blimp, brings it to

Now, which one? What was the last one you watched?

We just finished we just started to die another day before recording.

Okay, Okay, because, like I the first one that came out while I was old enough to like watch movies was Golden Eye, which we've talked about. But like, I've seen every all the Brows and ones, and then I saw the Craig Ones up until Specter, so I haven't seen Specter or No Time to Die. And I've heard Specter was terrible boring, and then I heard most people liked No Time to Die. So it's like, if I want to go back, I'm curious, should I watch No Time to Die and just skip Specter.

Unfortunately, Specter does set up. I think it's Leah Sadu's that her character is pretty huge and No Time to Die. No Time to Die is really long. Specter is boring, is the worst part, if memory serves Yeah, I'll confirm that when we get back. But from what I remember, if you don't want to just read a Wikipedia, I do think Specter's kind of integral too. No Time to Die Okay, I do remember liking No Time to Die.

Okay, I feel like I should check it out because it'srobably gonna be the last Craig One, right.

Yeah, I believe it is. And who knows what's going to happen now that Amazon owns all that shit, right? But yeah, I uh, I don't think this is that unpopular of an opinion. But rewatching them, I'm pretty sure Golden Eye is Pierce Brosnan's like only good Bond.

I remember Die Another Day was like, it has some so stupid, they're kind of fun things between like the laser and surfing on the snow and.

The Madonna fencing thing.

Car has the invisible car the woman. I used to be like, yeah, it's the guy who was diamonds in his face. It's it's play stupid. Yeah, I kind of liked it's.

Entertaining so far. We're about halfway through. I used to like when I was younger, world is not enough. Just rewatching that with Christmas Jones, Denise Richards.

Who right, Christmas only comes once a year.

I thought Christmas only came once a year, which, let's be clear, is a phenomenal line. The rest of them a really good one. Yes, the rest of the year. The movie though, is really bad dialogue but.

Terry Hatcher and right right and Sophie uh, who's the French lady?

That was in a movie about dogs. She was one of the Bond girls during one of those.

And then Timothy the bad guy, the tech, the Elon type dude, and Tomorrow Never Dies.

Jonathan Price.

I think Jonathan Price was Yeah, he was like he was the media mogul who was like creating wars to get his broadcasting station bigger. And he's talking about how much of a genius he is the whole time. Yet he can't foresee that broadcast news would be dying in like four years.

Yeah, but there's a Katzenberg making quibi. He thought he was a genius.

Michelle Yeo is his like, uh, what's the word I'm looking for? Or like a Chinese counterpart, Chinese intelligence counterpart and Tomorrow Never Dies. World is The World is not Enough. It's Denise Richards. I forget who plays Electra who ends up being the real villain. She's just pretending that she was kidnapped. Spoilers I this move two ninety nine. I think.

Sophie Marceau. That's who I'm thinking of.

What was she in? She was in She's in one of what we're just talking about. It might be electric. The World is not enough Electra, right, yeah, yes, Electric King. Yeah she's good. Yeah, yeah, she's a babe. They all

Do you have like an actual list of the rank.

Yep, you want to hear my current one? So we have not finished by another day. I've watched nineteen. It might take a few. People are going to go crazy over it.

Are you doing it? Can you do it? From? What do you want to see? I think interesting to start with my favorite, Okay.

Because I don't think my favorite. I think my favorite will catch people off guard. Thunderball with Sean Connery specifically, because that was the first one where I feel like they finally started actually like doing a bunch of cool ass set pieces, and the dialogue is nowhere near good enough in that era to carry the movie by itself. The globe trotting gets old after like four movies. Thunderball

Would ask you another question, did you watch them insequential order?

We are? Yeah, we got the Blu Ray collection.

Okay, go ahead.

It was on sale for like twenty dollars a few months ago. I was like, I should get this because I don't know why not from Russia would Love is my second. I don't think that'll surprise anybody.

Never saw it.

It's good, it's slow, it's it feels more like a like Criterion movie, but it's just him what's his name, Quint from Jaws? Uh oh, Yeah, he's like his Russian like assassin stalking him the whole movie. It's cool, like Cat and Mouse. GoldenEye is my third one. Were you watching Golden Eye? That movie is still great?

Yeah, that's really good.

The whole Sean or yeah, Sean being Alec Trevellian, like the fact that he I'd never paid attention to the whole leenns Cossack backstory with him when I was younger, the group that was like sided with the Nazis, then at the end of the war agreed to help the British, and then the British like killed a bunch of them. I don't know if they manufactured a lot of that for I gotta I have not. I don't remember that.

I've seen that movie ten times. I don't remember that at all.

That's like his whole motivation. He wants revenge on the British government, so he infiltrated am I. He became double O six.

There's parts of that movie I remember very well.

Yeah, still really good. Goldfingererfore Licensed to Kill Dalton. Yes that he did two movies and I loved both of them. And he's awesome. He might be my like third favorite Bond after Craig and Pierce Brosnan. He is alive. Look at that kill for him. The last thing I saw killed Timothy. He was in hot Fuzz.

He was like the right, Yes he is.

Living. Daylights was his first one. So he's got the five and six spot right now. Man with the Golden Gun, which I don't think a lot of people love, but I liked it quite a bit. It was really dumb. It's just Sean Connery versus Christopher Lee, who is the man with the Golden Gun who just invites people to his island and brings him into a funhouse and then like makes challenges for himself to kill them.

This sounds great. That's like years.

Yes, yeah, you should watch Man with a Golden Gun.

You just christ I wouldn't kill anyone. I would just like throw pies in their faces.

Man with Cheese Gun. This one, I don't expect you to do anything, mister Bond to just die. And you're eating so minute Sachs. You're eating a chili she's bean burrito. Will you try and laser his groin.

That's a good time.

That's just good Friday night. I think this one will be controversial. Number eight for me right now is Her Majesty's Secret Service. First one on Her Majesty's Secret Service. No, George Lazenbee's Only.

I thought that was the first one.

Mm. He came after Sean Connery and then it went awry and they brought Sean Connery back for Never Say Never Again. No, that was the non aon film one. He did another one it's here somewhere on this list, but I don't remember which one. Then Tomorrow Never Dies, and then For Your Eyes Only, which was Roger Moore, but they did it. That was like Grease and Turkey. They did some like revenge stuff there where the Bond

Yeah, yeah, that's not even a good name.

I think it's an awesome name.

It's not a moon Raker a laser.

Yeah, it's a laser. But also the movie's boring as shit. And it came out, I believe, like right after Star Wars, so they're like, oh, we got we gotta do some sci fi stuff, gotta.

Do moon stuff.

Yes, it's so weird, it's so hot right now.

I just I have the only one before a Brozenan movie or GoldenEye that I've seen is I think that's

That's cool that you got to like have all that there are. There are the ladies in the games, I feel like they're.

Not and multiplayer, oh yeah, yeah, there's like a boss fight against Zenia in GoldenEye. There's a lot of like protecting Natalia from GoldenEye on.

That and then may Days in it. She's a unlock character in multiplayer. Sure, sure, yeah, So not mentioning some of them.

I mean, the only one that's really really great is Golden There's a lot of good ones, like the PS two era. I had some good Bond games. It's a really cool thing they did from Russia with love Is. They like brought Connery back when Connery was probably like seventy or at least late sixties, and they had and yeah, they had Connery voice Bond again for the first time

Still sound like it. I feel like when you're seventy, you kind of sound like you're seventy.

I remember not being I mean, i'd have to go back. I haven't seen it forever, but like I remember thinking like this is cool, Like wasn't the best game in the world, but I thought it's like this was a noble attempt at doing something cool here.

That's cool. I mean, I just like they didn't get the original actor for Indiana Jones game, you know, like he's seventy.

Super worked out though, Like, yeah, they got him for the movie. They got Harrison Ford for the movie. Did a bunch of shitty the aging, but then you got Terry Baker to do the voice, which is.

In the opposite though, right, Like, don't.

D Indiana Baker in the movie and.

Get the O G voice because all he has to do is do his little quips against the Nazis, which he can do.

I don't know.

I heard the Harrison Ford Conan podcast and he sounds like an old man for sure, but he's still like he's super there, Like he still has all of that wit and he's fucking hilarious on the Conen podcast and like, so he's.

I love seeing old guy that.

It's like, Okay, that's still even though he doesn't look the same or walk the same or talk the same, like he's still that guy.

You know.

He's very funny and shrinking.

And I've heard I've heard the shows good It.

And Shrinking, and people are talking about that show a lot. And I finally ended up watching it and it's great and it is really worth watching. I think it's a fantastic just a great acted show from everyone. But he's kind of a star. He's kind of a comic relief, which is so odd, and it has some serious subject matter in it, and anytime he's in the room, we're just like, you know that old Coot's gonna like accidentally take too many mushrooms, Like he's gonna do something. You know,

I'm a big fan of old guys getting paid, Like you know, so Irison for it. I feel like was gone for like fifteen years and then he pops up. Now he's just doing car commercials, showing up and move homes.

And just getting paid. What's that? Oh yeah, a whole guard. Yeah. John Carpenter is in that same category.

I think like de Niro is fully DeNiro and Pacino are both in full on like, hey, we did our stuff where we want our oscars and did our art house corse asy stuff, and they can still dabble in that, honey.

Yeah.

Oh, they will just show up in a Sandler movie or a Meet the Fokkers and just get paid, and I have all the respect in the world.

Worked. There's an interview with Harrison Ford recently. I think it was some just press circuit kind of thing where they're like, the interviewer asked him because they had had a good report. He's like, so do you feel kind of like ridiculous playing the Red Hulk? And Harrison Ford like I thought he was gonna be pissed. He's like, well, yeah, but that's what the money's for, yeah, paying me to be an asshole.

It's like every comic on where they bring John Carpenter out and somebody asks like, so, what are your thoughts they're making these new Halloween movies, and some of them are being received well, and it's like, you know, like this is your baby, and it's like he's so old now and he's just like, listen, this is my involvement with that.

Uh.

They say we're gonna make a movie, and then I put my hand out and they put a bunch of money in it and I say thank you, and then I never think.

About it again. It's like, yeah, fuck, yeah, that guy's awesome.

Yeah. There. I appreciate that they're not like stuck up enough to be like, oh, they're ruining my creations, like it's it's out of your hands.

They evolve. I think like there's an element of this where the original fan base, who have worked, who have put a lot of time and energy into that space, have every right to be like, oh, this isn't for me, right. This happened with Star Wars time and time again, where the original fans are like, you have fucked up this thing that I love. Sure, but at some point it's actually just not for the original fans anymore. It's for children,

That's why it's so funny when it's like something like a Ghostbusters or an Indaturnal or something that was popular among like guys my age, like a new one comes out and then like forty year old ass men are just like, this isn't for me.

It's like, yeah, dude, those.

Cartoons you watched in the eighties and nineties weren't for your forty year old parents either, Like this is our new generation here. Like you mentioned Star Wars Mary, that was the ultimate one where it's like when that new trilogy, the prequel trilogy came out and all these like older fans, now, what.

The funck jar Jars a kid's character, and.

Yeah, it's like, well no, but you talk to kids that were like six seven when The Phantom Menace came out, and they have very fond, you know, young memories of those movies.

Chargu was very popular with annoying children. They love annoying characters.

They can see themselves in him.

They can empathize and relate. And I feel the same way with all of the remakes of the Disney classics, right, They're like, they keep like remaking my beloved Disney classics into real life. I don't like them, but that they're not for me. They're not remaking these assex for me. They're making them for children to like relive my young Oh my god, my experience of seeing Aladdin in theaters. Oh, I just have to say, I think we are the

The fucking the sand like lion thing when that opened, that looks incredible. That looks so fucking greater. The tower when it was rolling and stuff like that was magical shit. Like I feel like, yes, Mary, you're right with that Disney era. Like when I think about my Disney childhood, it is from Aladdin.

It's Aladdin and it's.

No no, no, no, no.

No, we're gonna we're gonna turn hard on it and the Lion King, and it's like, yes, when you're eight or ten years old, those were masterful experiences. You know, an entire catalog and entire brand obsession. And you're you know, forty, then it's a little more troublesome, but you know, they did some good stuff back then.

I'm not saying that I'm going to go to the kingdom that they've constructed for children, you know, get the season pass and making your whole personality as a year old and get the years for each season. That's That's not how far I'm in.

We just go to Nintendo museums like cool adults. Yeah, exactly, you get it. Mario, which is like gritty and adult. Yeah,

Yeah time, yeah, absolutely, yeah, you get it.

We're cool adults, cool gass geeks. So what's going on with you guys?

Oh? Mary mentioned case earlier. I made a note on my game notes document that I need to make a case of the because well, no, yeah it does, because it literally does, and you get through.

A case because he doesn't know how to spell it, and it's just a circle.

Whoa, whoa, give me shit where I deserve it?

Spelling is not that spot.

Yeah, he gets really defensive a spelling bee chops because it's actually have I have I asked you to spell the word that I weirdly remember the word that the kid won the script spelling Bee with in When was I in sixth grade? I would have been twelve, so that would have been two thousand and three, okay, two thousand and three the script Spelling Bee. The word was autocthinous. It's a basically a synonym for indigenous. Uh. I don't

Is it aut is that it starts?

Yes, say it again autocthinous?

Talk oh after that.

A U T O H yes, T N O us say that again, T E n like tenuous t E n O us No, but very very close T T O N O U.

S okay okay, like okay, yeah, okay, sure sure, But to case it is yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we've gotten way off from case.

Yeah yeah, case it is to spell it.

I'm loving cooking a lot, uh, and I'm doing it more like you know, I was doing the cocktails stuff and everything. I was like, oh, I like doing cocktails, but I can't cook. And then it's like telling.

It this until now I've tell I've been telling you to learn how to cook for like ten years and you don't give me a text or anything.

I'm not gonna text you every time I see you a chicken.

I So it's started very simple with me just being like I need to start eating vegetables and fruits or I'm probably gonna die quicker than I should.

And so I just.

Started doing like, all right, every night, it's gonna be a bonelesskinless chicken breast that I see eed. And then like I'm gonna make a vegetable and so just be like, Okay, here's a souvd chicken breast, and uh, you know, I asparagus or something like that.

And now I'm usually doing two veggies.

And now I'm I got a cast iron pan and I'm doing this searring on that with some canola oil and all that tonight, I made a salmon with with a roasted carrots and potatoes, and like, I'm doing all these things with different seasonings, and uh, I want to just keep stretching out, like like the I bought a little like tacoholder thing for the air fryer and I'm making I'm spreading olive oil on little tortillas and folding them up and do an avocado mashing them up and

Yeah, I like it.

It's very exciting for me.

Where come from? Because we are trying to off You told us you would cut Dan.

This is this is I'm actually like this. I'm this is not a bit. I'm angry.

This is not a bit with me either.

Okay, then I am even more angrier. Dan, go like four episodes. I fucking told you, once you start cooking, you'll love it. I believe me. No, I'm not fucking I believe your hammerd thing. You don't listen to people. I think I feel like a lot of people take this personally or it's just like damn, I told you this. It's like Look, anyone who hears me say something that I forget it, it's.

Like, just no, that's everyone. Minatti does it every fucking time on Blake Love.

A solipsistic person and you're a narcissist. What got you past the stove? What got you past your sphere of flames?

Wanting vegetables in my life and trying to figure out that.

But you had this whole thing about you, how you couldn't find time to make broccoli because you got to beat all these video games. Where did you get the time?

Well, I mean, you know, you got to change your schedule around a little bit, and like like today, I spent like an hour in the kitchen.

You know, I'm not. I don't.

I'm maybe you incepted it into his brain, Like have you ever considered the.

Fact that you are his hero? Get any you could find time to make broccoli? I think you're fucking with me.

Maybe you've him.

I swear to fucking God, I'm not with you.

I was fucking there. I'm telling you.

I remember a conversation. I do remember that.

Yeah, okay, because I was even talking about just brocoli in the air fryer, which takes like ten fucking minutes. Yeah, I don't know if my well, you know what, Maybe that was during the time I was traveling NonStop, and I've actually had a couple months off of traveling, So maybe that's the no.

You said you literally ran through your entire day's schedule with us Mary and I did the math. I definitely remember hours. You said these videos.

I put forty five minutes down for teeth, remember that.

Yes, that's too much, And now that's I'm done with the tooth stuff now, So maybe that's it. Maybe my tooth stuff got figured out. Now I'm finding all the time.

His teeth is now five minutes, and now there's forty minutes extra for broccoli.

Yeah, tooth is easy now. I swear to God. I swear to fucking I'm so fucking if you one day decide to spend like six months getting into wine and then you do it a bit on the show where and you just catch I don't bring up like a difference between Kyanti and Kianti Classico.

I think I've gone as far as I can now with the white. I went from being like I'll never drink this because my dad says it's for high maintenance women and only that the whole time I was grown up.

Then I came round and became it. Yeah, I'm behind me. That is what my dad thinks of Mike.

Yes, lady, that's.

What I'm That's like exactly what I'm going for. So, yeah, I got past all that old Paul's stuff and I got to the boy.

Now we's like, oh, every once in a while, I want to have some drinks. I will just pop open a bottle of wine. And I think, you know, I've tried, you know, the fine wines, and I've tried you know, like, well, no, not I know what you're talking about. But I've had the ones that you've recommended, like when we go to restaurants and stuff like that, and.

It's like it's good, It's all good. But I definitely don't have the palette to like I I didn't. I don't think I'm going to become a like wine guy on that level. I just and a guy who enjoys wine on occasion, now, which is I meant. I could see you doing it to spite me. That would be funny, I know, and I'd be pissed, but I know more than you.

But I don't think he would do it to destroy you. I think he would do it just to watch you squirm.

But what I meant by the stove thing is what you had, like this fear of it. I know that you decided you needed to it was like Bianca helping you or did you watch videos on how to use it? What got you past? Just the actual like anxious fear of using it.

A big part of it was just like the splattering of Like it was just like a murder scene every time I put a chicken breast on the thing. And now I'm just realizing now, like more like what oil to use, how much oil to use? The specific thing is padding down the chicken breast or the salmon, Like when it comes to I'm patting it the fuck down, it is pretty dry by the time I put it in there. So yeah, so I'm just getting better at that. So honestly, YouTube has been very very helpful with that.

Well.

I like those, I got some good recipes, food delivery services that give you like the chicken and the recipe. Those are really nice to teach you some basics.

It was really helpful because, like I've done a couple of sponsorship things on Twitch with like Hello Fresh and stuff like that, and it's like, Okay, you're just gonna give me all the stuff, tell me step by step what to do.

Like that was a pretty good intro to that.

Hello Fresh is a great intro to cooking. I really do think so they're all about the same, right, I don't think anyone is like way above the other. They all kind of deliver you the meat and the sauce, but they give you lots of tips and tricks of like seasoning and make patting it down. And a lot of the times I was amazed with how often I was like, so, wait, you're telling me this sauce is just the chicken crusties on the pan and butter and like sour cream and that's it and that's my sauce.

Well, yeah, and like you know, like taco seasoning and stuff like that was something I never thought of in my life. And then when I learned like, oh, okay, I just you know, I'll get a little bowl and I'll put some like cumin and some chili powder and make it pepper and paprika and stuff like I'm just gonna make my own little mix here, and then you can like tweak things or it's like, oh, I really like the taste of cuman, I'm gonna be a little heavier on that, and it's what to hell.

I think that's cool. I like that you're you're excited about it. I do. I also like that it pisses Mike off, So I think I'm benefiting from both ends.

I'm no guy, I'm very glad you're cooking.

It's just an angry guy.

Hey, why don't you chill out and have a sot on yon.

I have no idea what you're trying to say. They're for like both all three syllables. I'm glad you're cooking. I you don't sound glad. I wish I had recommended it even harder.

I wish I had recommended we spend a full hour trying to convince you. And I think for the record, I think that information went somewhere into the recis of Dan's brain and he did not acknowledge it, and he may never acknowledge it. But you might have flipped the switch that started his credit.

I just want to it's not credit. It's like I I want to know my voice is heard.

It is in the moment, and then it's forgotten and then it comes back.

But I think it was my idea.

Do you sit up straight, like bolt up right in the middle of the night, be like I can cook.

No, I feel like I'm coming to these realizations by myself.

That's how that I.

Keep talking back to with you, Dan, is you keep bringing things up or we recommend things. We're like, hey, I think this would be good for your life, and you know, add some like I think there's also a meditative aspect to cooking that's really nice. Yeah, I think, like I recommend those things because you've said before, I'm good at recommending games and movies, Like I think I've maybe missed it once. You're great with recommendation. Yeah, yeah, I'm glad you're cooking. It's great.

Yeah, it's like an hour I was thinking that today because it's like you can't just like my head is usually in a million different places. I'm just thinking of something stuffing my toe and I'm just like all over the place, falling downstairs and shit.

And it's like when you're cooking.

I got this sharp ass chef knife and I'm chopping up the town working with her.

I have to be And it's like a sometimes that you can enjoy that you made. Are you great? I'm giving you one more chance to tell me you're fucking with me, Mike.

I swear to fucking god, I am not fucking with you. I think Mary's right, and that, like I think people tell me that you accepted it in there, the part of my brain that is conscious, I think forgets it immediately, but I think there's some deeper part of my brain that, like everything people are telling me, goes in there and sometimes just bubbles to the surface.

I'm like, ooh, idea, you.

Are the sparkle in the eye of a future better Dan. You just don't know. That's not for you, you fucking idiot.

This is for he's just accepting my coffee's intercepting my compliment.

This is you are making him a better person over time. But you probably won't get credit for it. But that's what friends do.

Magine how much bunk does that?

Like?

It tells me a good idea. And then later I just checked this thing out. I was like, I told you that.

Probably probably accepts you every day. She's probably just like, hey, you know, I was just thinking about how we should flush the toilet every time we use it, and you're like, oh my god, I don't know. Then who knows? Dan, I'm just using a hypothetical.

Agent. I just know sometimes I think, like, I don't think anybody should kill that neighbor I hate.

I don't know, you know, she's evil.

Gets you to do yeah, yeah, yeah, I just like to think like Bonk is like she's got to like us.

Thinking best things all about Like what is that?

That's? What was that? How much money do you think Giant bomb had? I'm just curious, how does it work?

Have a safe right?

I'm just curious people this fandom? How many people like know? Who has codes to what accounts? You know? I don't know.

Something to think about. At some point, fires.

Has like a dec number. Listen, do you think Mike really pays attention? Like what if? How long would it take him? How many a busy guy?

Yeah?

Anyway, go to sleep.

Good for you if you're cooking, it's just in thereby night, sweetheart.

I'm gonna keep doing it.

It's evolved just in the months i've been doing it, and I want to keep trying new stuff.

You know, let me know if you need uh, well, you don't need any recipes, but I got some good ones. Yeah.

So it's fun looking stuff up and finding different ways to do it, maybe really million different ways.

Twenty twenty five.

You can find them some soaking sweet potato fries and bowls of ice to help you and get the start shop and yeah, yeah, I also think you're.

Never too old to learn. I think like that is something that is a nice reflection of this place. Like I I hope everybody who has never cooked before or like doesn't enjoy it, gets inspired to cook at some point in their life and it's like, Okay, it turns out I actually do like cooking. For the first time

Toaster.

You mean the pasta? Is it like an attachment for another appliance? Is what you're saying.

It's an attachment for another appliance.

Probably not your toaster. I'm assuming I just.

Hear an electric and appliance. And that was the first word.

It's like having a composition with another adult. And like some ding dong that just walked into the room.

I don't I don't like huh blender, Like what Yeah, now I'm trying to figure out.

The appliants the dough mixer.

Oh yeah, sure, like you're I know you're talking about. Yes, it has a bowl to it, but yeah, I know what you're talking about. That's cool.

Kitchen.

What did you say.

I bet you our listeners are screaming kitchen. It's a kitchenaide and then it's an attachment for the KitchenAid and it automatical, but you still have to feed the dough through it and you get to play with it and stuff. Dan, you probably like making your own and it tastes better.

It tastes good, and I'm a big pasta guy. I would like to try.

You should make pasta. It's great.

It is a very very good idea. If you're like having people over, it's a great like several hours everybody makes pasta together. You let it sit, you have some drinks, and then by the time it's ready and have the sauce going on the stove. It's a very fun like dinner party thing where you're all active when.

You eat it. Everybody gets rewarded at the end. And I think the food tastes better because you're like, I put a lot of time and energy into this. So like he feels good when you eat it because you're like, I'm made this.

I made a short rib ragou sauce with Popperdell from the we have the crank has the second attachment, which I've not used yet. It's got several pasta types that I've never heard of. We stick to, like popper Dell or Linguini or.

Could could you make the thing that we had at that Dario restaurant?

No one can twin. I wish you could probably figure. Yes, we have a ravioli maker, but it's a mold specifically with the circular pockets. Okay, but yeah, if you get a ravioli tray, you just have to cut like wide enough dough and then you just let it sit and put some flower on its. It's very fun.

You're gonna love it.

Yeah, yeah, I think.

There's you know, I think a lot of people would I come to something way later in life than I should.

There's always hardly do know how.

To do this until then.

For me, I am my age now, so I'm having the fun now, all the like discovery and like, oh this is fine.

I like this thing. So to me, this is great.

You know, It's not like I don't think like, oh, I could have been doing this for thirty years. It's like I'm going to do it now and it's fun.

So yeah, you have like the beautiful mindset of like, well I didn't know what eggs were, and now you get to enjoy that experience of the egg way later on in life. I enjoy being fascinated by you. But this is not to harm you. I am just receiving my joy by seeing, like what is it like when a closet child has broccoli for the first time. I'm curious.

I think I can thank that for having a podcasting career, like a main topic for you.

You need to be soul Dan Ryker, but we are grateful to learn from you.

Yeah. The thing I've saying earlier is that when I'm recommending when I was recommending that you start cooking your your like response every time I brought it up, which was several many, he's throwing that last wee, It's no, I meant it. I meant it. I remember these conversations said you said, like I don't know how like did

Maybe this is a cop out excuse, but like, I don't think people understand enough how much of an influence, good and bad my father had on me.

Where it's like.

Literally I get it, Like like within the last like year or two, he's asked me questions about like I want to figure out, like I got a somebody gave me a slow cooker. I need something really low effort that I can make in it. And then like I forgot who was I think he puts this on social media and somebody was like, oh yeah, so you just got to like chop up and he's like no, no, no, low effort. You're like idea of like chopping up a vegetable or something was like, I'm not going to get crazier.

I'm not Emerald, you know.

So it's like growing up, it was just mister frozen food and fast food and that was it. And mom was a waitress at night, so it's not like I was learning anything there with food stuff, So all I knew was Totino's party pizzas and stuff like that. So it's like this is new to me for a reason.

Yeah, reasons. I'm just saying every time you're like, well, I don't know how people know how to do that, and like you have again getting good at it. Yeah yeah, I still have that.

Again. I'm still trying to scoop out all the props of my brain.

Yeah yeah, all right, Well you guys want to talk about tariffs? Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, all right, we're back. Mary has a fly that's annoying her. She's gonna busy herself with trying to snatch it.

It's like the Breaking Bad episode.

Yeah, it's just like that high on meths.

Oh.

It's like makes a.

Lot of a bunch of parallels.

Do you think math is fun?

But probably parallel?

Like, I know it's bad and it kills people and stuff, but like when it's good, you think it's like really good.

I think most addictive drugs are good when they're good.

Yeah, that one made that's what makes them troublesome addictive.

Yeah, that's what makes them addictive.

So yeah, math is very very fun. Yeah.

By the way, this is a total aside that I just thought of.

Okay, I know specifically, Mike, I know you know this Instagram account, there's that like Norm McDonald's account that we we've constantly, you know, we've sent each other, you know, old norm bits back and forth from it.

Have you seen this ship going on with it? No? Oh man, this is such niche dumb drama. It's like daughter or whatever.

No, the granddaughter thing, yes, because it's like every other post ever is just like here's a Norm clip from whatever. And then all of a sudden it's like, oh, Norm McDonald's daughter or granddaughter is doing only fans check the sense, Like what the is this? And also I know that he doesn't have a granddaughter, And.

I was like, what the fuck?

And I saw like all these people saying like unfollowed, unfollowed, unfollowed, unfollowed, and I was like, okay, is this some shady like bait and switch type thing? And I look back and there was another one previously. So it was like one of those shitty things where it's like, let's get a huge following by posting this thing that everyone loves, and then we're gonna be like, oh, and also check out this only fans.

What fuck?

Like I unfollowed it, It's like, man, it I like getting my Norm McDonald's stuff all the time. But it's like, not if it's just gonna feed me some random only fans have you know.

Got the clips? Whoever made the account understood Norm's humor because they were finding good clips.

It was, yeah, great stuff.

When he's talking to Adam he get He's like, so, yeah, I'm a doctor the other day and yeh he said to me, you uh, you got to stop eating like shit and you gotta lose weight or else you're gonna have a heart attack. And then Adam he gets like, oh, that's not funny. It's like, what do you mean it's not funny. I was expecting a joke. He's like, from my cardiologist, he's not a comedian.

Yeah.

So I followed that.

So if anyone wants to make a really great Norm McDonald daily Instagram account, I'll follow that.

Just don't bait and switch.

Yeah, get it, get it? Dan? What have you been playing? We both did?

It looks like yeah, I played it a little bit. I played like four hours of it and you know what, how was the series that?

What's that?

Do you remember? What? Like? What monster? You got to?

I only a few Like it wasn't like I was doing the side stories and stuff like I did the first couple like kill the cattle tackletists and then kill the this thing, and then kill six of these things, and then I started doing some optional ones. And that's always been a series that I've struggled with because, like,

You know. It's like, oh, oh, press up for a big like big excursion that is like has this gravitas

Yeah, And then this one it was just a lot of like Okay, I'm gonna talk to people at the base camp. Then I'm gonna hop on my ostrich and then I'm gonna press the hey take me to the thing button and then it's just like a bunch of just like the like walk and talk stuff where it's like I was like, oh, here's the part where I get to like go out into this like big world.

You know, it's a very oddly paced game, because yeah, there is a weird amount of story up front with like several side characters, and you're doing walking talks and know you lost your secretees back to the village they came from, and then all of a sudden you don't have them. You're like, oh, maybe they're just going to make this like an arduous journey now they don't have It's like, nope, you'll get it soon enough. And then all of a sudden you're hopping around these stone pillars

Yeah, and it's just not well put together in terms of like if you're trying to bring in new people, Like there was a thing at the camp at the beginning where they were like, hey, let's pick a weapon. You know, there's fourteen weapons, whatever, let's figure out what works best for you. Do you want to get in close or do you want to focus on defense do

And then I was like, what, I have to send this bug.

Out and it harvests and then I can also like, Okay, I like the mobility stuff, but what the fuck is this bug? And I was describing this on Giant Bomb and I saw people being like, oh, you picked the most confusing weapon. It's like, what question the tutorial ship Like, I, it's not my fault is not.

Yes. I was gonna say, if you answer very if they're giving you, like what's the what was the website that was famous for those quizzes for a while, then it went to news No, then it went to news people are.

You know it must be Sparkle. I think he's talking about Sparkle.

It'll kind of it's a thing if if you're answering like a sparking level of quiz and they give you the most complicated weapon as a recommendation. That's their problem, not yours.

Yeah yeah, I am like, yeah yeah, they talk about

So it's like what is going to.

Are you playing on this gable or are you yourself?

I would say Dark Souls is maybe the like Dark from Software is probably the best developer ever at nonverbally communicating how things work. I think Monster Hunter can't find the middle ground of like here are some things that are worth keeping a very high skill ceiling on, and here are some things foundational things that would help people start the learning process when you're getting given a new

Yeah, and they give you some tools that are nice where it's like I spend some time with like you talk about the dummy and the camp, and it's like it's this kind of like big machine thing and you can set it like, Okay, do I want this thing to just sit there and I can practice my combos? Or do I want it to move around and attack me and I can practice defense and stuff like that. So like it has some tools where you can try

It's just like, it's it's a lot.

And I'm sure if you want to dig super fucking deep, if this is your game, Like, I'm sure, it's great to have that many options, but it's still really overwhelming. Who hasn't played that many games?

I think playing with buds is the way to go, like playing with another person that will guide you, they will protect you, like.

Learn some stuff. It's it's extremely fun. That series is very fun co op and I I love the depth of it. Again, I love the high scale ceiling. I just think they did choose to streamline weird parts here.

It's clearly a well made game.

It's one of those things where it's like I'm not gonna come shit on it or anything like that, but it's like I play it and I try it, and I'm just like, I I just don't think this is for me.

You know, Yeah, I'm gonna keep playing it for the time being, I don't I haven't played any other I'm not actually only the other playing. Oh my god, I can't talk. The only other game I'm playing is Avowed right now, dan't on you finished it, Mary, you played more of it, and curious what you think now, because you seem sort of like you weren't positive what you thought yet.

Last Yeah, I was on the fence because there's a lot of talkie in that game. My side characters will not shut the fuck up about like their problems and issues, and like I don't really care about them. But I did like solving crazy mysteries and finding random stuff in the world, and I liked the parkoer and I I played more in the last six hours. I am a parkour junkie. Actually really like the climbing aspect of it. It reminds me of just like old school games where

Uh.

When you're solving puzzles physically by how do I get there? That is something I'm like really into.

I think this game does that stuff, like the Parker stuff especially well, because like there, I don't just like Parkop for the sake of parkerp Like I know that's a big part of like Dying Light, and I do not like those games. I didn't like Mirrors Edge as much as people like that. This one, like it does feel like like the Parkore on a mechanical level feels good, but more importantly, it does feel like you're rewarded for it, and that there is like a fun search for it,

Yeah, it's a I've played a decent amount now, not a ton six hours in. Maybe I'm love how simple and satisfying the combat can be, but there is enough depth there where I never get bored. Like they found just the right balance between just like crunchy and straightforward. But it's as complicated as I want it to be.

Yeah, it's compartmentalized a bit where it's like, you know, we've talked about Tears the Kingdom and stuff where it's like, oh my god, you go underneath the ground and there's this giant fucking map that's as big as the overworld and I got to find all this stuff. Like that's overwhelming, like in a good way. I mean, obviously the game did it very well this one. I kind of like the fact that it's like, all right, I'm gonna do every fucking thing in the old stare before I move on to the.

Next area, and you can, you can.

You can, yeah, you can.

You can make it so there's not a single open quest on that quest log. It's not like, you know, like I love Skyrim, I love Fallout, but like you will just amass dozens of quests and like, I've definitely never like one hundred percent of every quest in one of those games.

With this, I think I almost did every single thing.

That's really cool. I do think there are some big ones that might shock you. I forget what world it's in, and I talked about it on the last episode, but I did a side quest where guy was like, I went on a quest with my brother and we were gonna die, so I left, but my brother's still there. Can you go get him? If you see that quest, do it because that's a sick quest and it does have a lot of really cool shit.

Under there is the one with a brother who's a virgin.

Yes, and I.

And it kept going, like it just keeps going and the world there's it is an under first of all, it is an underground area like in a cave, and then the cave there's systems and it's really cool. I started it, and Okay, well I want to like there's like a god down there, like there's a lot of shit in there.

Yeah, yes, that one's awesome.

It's like the entire map from remember the Forbidden City a couple of years ago? Oh yeah, time Loop game. It's like they put that entire game underground and there's a whole Yeah, the guy's been down there doing experiments and there's other this other wizard that has been like corresponding with him. I'm sitting so good at that environmental kind of like.

They did it. It's foreshadowing, right, foreshadowing and like kind of guiding you of like what to do. And what's really cool about that one. That's like the first time in any of these games ever where I was like, oh, I think I made the wrong call. I like destroyed the god set up because I was like this seems evil. But I was like I actually think there's a different ending here. I went back in time, like thirty five

Like yeah, it's the most I'm I'm more excited to play that than Monster Hunter Wild's after this or whenever it's. It's the most eager to get back to a game I've been in a long time and.

I can't win the last time I've had a game where it's like I am doing like eight hour sessions of this game, I am up till player four in the morning, because I just want to keep seeing the next thing like I while else has been that that indocith.

I'm happy for you. I'm glad that you had.

Can I ask you a question, like, because a lot of times, much like Lost, you might enjoy the journey, but if the end isn't good, you might be like, what the fuck? You guys didn't answer any of these questions. There's a lot of questions in that game. I have a lot of questions about why I'm a and I would like to know if you were satisfied, not literally absolutely satisfied.

I was absolutely satisfied with the overall like story, conclusion, everything, and also I was very satisfied and surprised by some of the stuff that, like, you know, sometimes it's very obvious, like you know, like Fallout three, are you gonna make a ton?

Are you?

Like that type of stuff where it's like, well, this is a pretty big decision. You know, there were things that it was alluding to at the end. There's definitely like us at the end a thing where it's like, here's the consequences of your actions and you kind of see all this stuff, and I learned things that like, oh, I thought that was just a part of the story.

And you could have saved this area.

And it's like, holy shit, Because like most of myself was all like the positive stuff. I was very happy with my decisions. Certain things I didn't even realize would have impacts had huge impacts.

Yeah, that's cool.

I sing that too. In our worlds as well.

I've had a couple of those as well, where it wasn't necessarily whether or not it was wrong or right. One in the first area, there was a lady bringing a cart in and the government stopped her and they were like, well, you search her cart and I saw a grenade in the cart, and so I was like, this lady's a terrorist. That was my instinct, and so I told him and called her out. It turns out like so she went to jail, and I was like,

And all and all the people who are trying to help help the poor people are like we hate you. You're like yeah with the police, and I was like I never meant to be properly, like I went down this terrible path.

That one's so smart because it's early enough towards like you know, it becomes pretty apparent pretty quick that like the Adyrians that you represent the stuff are like you kind of this evil empire, you know. But like earlier, that was like one of the first things I ran into and I was like, aw, that's a terrorist.

Grenades are bad, and she's down something.

Yeah, every other decision I made later it was like, yeah, I was like anti Adirrians with everything going forward, but at that moment in the game. I was like, but you're right, Mary, like I had the exact same experience where like, oh man, I feel bad about that.

Well, Mary, you probably you probably you know reported that woman for trying to get contraceptives.

Right, yeah, anti contra anti grenades, stay in there, Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm always trying to hold women down, and I I feel like I never support them. There was another one in the second area where someone said there's something at the bottom of this lake and it is pretty nice, but it's also very coveted, so like everyone's gonna want it. And I was like, well, bitch, I'm going down there. And I swam to the bottom of that lake and I got that gemstone and then all these fucking skeletons came out of the woodwork and they have been trying

This game kicks ass, and it really does.

It's pretty good.

And you know, I said, I did pretty much everything, and I wound up beating it in like fifty two to fifty three hours, which, like I think that's awesome. Though, Like you could beat the game if you want to just kind of mainline the story do in like thirty hours probably, And if you want to do everything, you know, fifty to fifty something. It's that's a very reasonable amount, you know, Like I'm not, again sta a huge spread.

I was happy the whole way through this game. Loved it.

Yeah, I want to. I'm gonna play much more. I haven't even gotten out of the first major area yet.

Oh nice, there's so much good.

Yeah, And like each of the areas does feel very distinct from each other, Like, Mary, are you on the second or third area?

I must be on at least to the second area, But I think I'm getting finished with that. I might be headed to the well. Actually I don't know. Is the third area I'm in like an area where the crops are all dying?

Is it the animancy stuff and the like the crops and the yo gets here in the second area and the Emerald stare.

Okay, yeah, I'm at the second I'm at the end of the second area.

Then there's plenty of good stuff to come.

I'm excited. It's been it's been fun. I've enjoyed the ride. And to Mike's point, when I think about a new game and everybody's talking about Monster Hunter, there's like, you know, back and forth about it, and I have this sick game in my living room I'm interested in playing about, Like that's what I will play probably when we finished recording tonight. It's maybe it's just low pressure. I just know I'll enjoy it. It's a good story.

I don't know.

I'm having fun. I made my character really hot and I like looking at them.

Yeah, got some weird fungus growing.

Really so fucking hot with my fungus.

You gotta see my character. I picked the what is it called the god Touched. Yeah, I did as much of that ship on my face as possible. I did the one mushrooms the fungus mushrooms out of my eyes.

So I did the most like a couple little red spots on my cheeks that.

I was grown out of micro bus.

So anytime they're talking to me, it comes back, and I'm just.

Like, everyone can't stop it, and you know what's funny?

And they squelch every time I blink. It's and I see.

The NPC that's in the jail cell. And the first thing she says to you was like they say you're God touched, but like I wouldn't say that by looking at you, and I was just like, how dare you? I'm hot?

Mine was minimal.

I went as overboard as you can.

I love it.

It's it's annihilation ship, Tessa Thompson relation ship.

That's really like right up your alley visually.

I love the speaking of are you playing Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii?

Uh No, I'm Yakuza is a weird thing with me where it's like I have nothing but respect for that series of like how fucking weird it is? It almost like stricks like metal gear mix of like deadly serious with also the dumbest shit you've ever seen, Like I really do.

I like that serious a lot.

I maybe I like the idea of it more than I enjoy playing it, although the turnament stuff.

I didn't beat it.

I mean I played like forty hours of it, and it's like there's another forty Like I don't know. It's a game I didn't want to spend eighty hours play. Yes, certainly, yeah, I I like those games. I don't need to play them all.

No, you don't have to justify. I was mainly curious because it's like the game title just seems like something that you would love, Like I love that they did that.

I think that's great. But yeah, also, like pirate stuff, never really did it for me. I don't really care about pirate stuff.

I don't know.

People seem to like it, but I'm good. Everyone smile. I'll dive into a Yaka said.

But I might go back to Eashan at some point with Gunshan. Yeah, yeah, but what a split fiction? What is it? I'm just it's my segue. Oh yeah, I know it is, but go for it. It is.

Well, it's the uh you know, it takes two.

It's Joseph Ferris and Hayes Lights next co op game, and uh, it's really fucking good. It is easy, I guess to be cynical about these games because like, I don't know, I think about It Takes Two and we're really enjoying it a lot. Me and Bank played it together, but then it like super overstated, it's welcome, it was

So I don't know.

I think I came in not being super excited about it, but Bonk and I have played probably five or six hours of it now and it's it's just undeniably fantastic game.

It is.

I like it a lot more than It Takes Too so far, and I thought It Takes Two was great. I think it looks a lot better. It doesn't have the weird like kind of wooden toy stuff. And also everything's like kind of his family.

And they're not having a divorce in the middle of the story.

Yeah, girl cry.

Oh lots of things like that.

It was like the elephant thing and the girl crime thing and all that, and it's just a weird tone for this game.

You so far as even going back as far as a brothers, he's way better. His teams are way better at telling stories through gameplay. When they actually try to script something, well, it kind of falls apart.

It's it is similar here where it's like, look, the cutscenes are not gonna like it's a very straightforard. It's like, oh, these two girls are writers. One's a fantasy writer, one's a sci fi writer. One likes the city, one likes the country. They don't get along, they don't relate, and

Whatever thing the fuck is that story?

No, that's it, And so it's like but it's all just a setup for like allowing them to jump between a bunch of totally disconnected in a good way sci fi and fantasy settings and just wacky wilds things because like they get.

Like because it's like you can just you can be like you're in a new chapter now, so now you're actually in a western yeah, or like.

There's one word, you're a couple of pigs on a farm, and it's like, oh, yeah, I wrote this is the first thing I wrote when I was like a little

High fast paced boss fights and chase.

Sequences and stuff to like, here's a big fun area for you to just kind of like sandbox run around, like, look at it.

Here's all these pigs doing these cute things.

Look at this. It's just everything seems so smartly put together. It's like the fact that there are no collectibles or anything like that to find. I think in a lot of games, like you know, you want a pepperine collectibles inside things to do.

But here, if there were collectibles, the pacing.

Would be so different because it's like, oh, let's say box charging forward and I'm like, hang on, hang on, I think there might be something over here that's going to fuck up the pacing of a game like this that's meant to be a co op thing. So like, because that stuff isn't there you can feel comfortable be like, Okay, we're just running forward, Okay, we're grappling, we're jumping, we're fighting, we're doing all this stuff, and like the pace never

And all of this shit's been fun to do.

So.

Yeah, it's it looks incredible. The writing is not great, but I do like that it doesn't get bogged down in over explaining the story. Like you literally get sucked into this machine and then the two girls are like, I guess we got to collect these glitches to get out of here. Great cool, Like there's no like we don't have to understand what the machine is or go into the backstory of the villain and stuff like that.

Did you think I am wonderful that it's doing so well?

Was it was the game about escaping brother a way Out, Away Out? Did you play that? We started that?

I did not care for it.

That was self serious, right, there's more like Spielberg shots and whatnot.

Yeah, yeah, I'm trying to do this like I don't know, it's like a shashank thing or something, but like a lot of like kind of walking down hallways and walking talk type stuff, and like I've kind of liked all their stuff.

I like Brothers. I liked it Takes two.

I love this, but like it Way Out was the one where it's like, okay, we're getting a little kind of the pacing. I didn't love of it, whereas this is just kind of slam bang fucking platforming action. Like it's thing the thing, the thing, the thing, And I've loved all of it.

Yeah, I want to play at some point, maybe i'll with Amanda.

I root for that studio. I think they do interesting things. I think A Tale of Two Brothers was so brilliant and it's really cool. The progression of the studio has taken with more budget, more time, more people to be able to make these robust adventures, and It Takes two was the pinnacle of a lot of that work. Right, Like Tailor Brothers, A Tale of Two Sons is genius and I think it's my favorite, But that doesn't mean it's the best. It's just it's the one that, like

Right.

If it's just a story, that's Netflix. If it's gameplay, you've lost the touch. It's the connection of the two. This studio has consistently struggled with finding the connection between a good story and good gameplay. In my opinion, I just haven't seen it yet. The one where they're breaking out of prison, I think had a good story, but the gameplay was a mess. It just was like all over the place, and you couldn't. No one was ever really in control. It felt like we didn't know which

It's a really cool niche that they found.

And I'm with you marea where it's like I want to see more of this because, like you know, I think about like you know, me and Bank where it's like we both work in games, we both love games, and like you know, people assume they' oh you're probably playing you got a co op partner all the time,

And you really do feel like it's a lot of like you know, you're.

Okay, get that, shoot that thing, okay, and then I'm gonna go through a good time those one, two, three, and it's it is really an ideal co op local experience,

So I've really been loving playing with her.

I think that's great. You've inspired me. I will probably play this, although I would play even a bad co op game because I like them and I seek them out, and I look at co optional and like other places to seek out co op games to play with other people. So this is right up my Ali. I would be playing it too. But yeah, I hope that they continue to be able to make these types of games, and one day I look for like the Ultimate Brother's Tale of Two Sons Pinnacle, which is like a really gripping

I don't think you'll get the story thing here, but I think you'll have a lot of fun.

I believe you because we're both Dewey's and so if you're not griped by the story like they've fucked up.

Like, oh it's ship for sure, it's super Dewey.

Yeah, well I'll survive.

What's my side?

Can can you do me a favor? Can you not google this game?

Yes?

I would be happy to talk to you about this.

Do you want us to play it? Or do we you not want us to google it while you're talking about it.

I'm gonna describe it and then you can decide whether or not you want to play it. But I think that if you google it it will ruin it because a flame. No, that's not what I'm worried about.

Gotcha, I can say that.

Dan. You remember when I told you to play that watch that horror movie and I said, yeah, I.

Loved it.

Okay, Well, I want to be careful here. This isn't barbarian level my side. It is a don't do it not my side.

Is a.

A hell of a twisty game. And I didn't know a lot about it, and I didn't have anything to play on Monday, and so I started googling games that are like high reviews. This game is like crazy high reviews, but I'd never heard of it, which I think is weird and suspicious. Yes, don't google it and it okay, just hear me out. So I was like, either this game is committing fraud because it has it has extremely high reviews, or like it is really good but no

Like you lost him? Yeah, hold on, hold on.

Also you just describe that again please, Yeah.

So you're a game and you have like a wife and which is like a hot lady or she's a super cute like woman anime style. She's got like a cute little dress. You're literally the game starts. You're in your bedroom and you take out your phone and then the game and then the camera like zooms into your phone. So you're playing this game on your phone and she's like,

What you learn.

And I will warn all of our viewers who are like interested in what I'm saying is that this game has strong themes, including like violence and stuff, and there are homages to PT in it. It gets really fucking crazy. I swear it, yes, physical therapy or like playable teaser PT.

Oh yes, yes, yes, Okay, So it.

Has like it has like a lot of like really cool elements to it of maybe horror and it twists. It's on Steam but and it's important you play it

Play first story something like that, like anything does I think it.

It has a lot of narrative design choices in it. It kind of reminded me of Slay the Princess.

Visual novel.

But but it's not it's not talky. It's dewey, but it's not talky. It's not talky. It's dewey. Okay, But the said, yeah, I lost you with that, I understand, and I know how quickly you quit games, you have to at least make it five minutes.

Five minutes.

I can do five minutes.

No you can't, bitch. We know you've quit games in thirty seconds.

I've made it twelve minutes in a metaphor, No you didn't. I I was not twelve minutes. He didn't say the what is fantasy when you die? Or something? But he's got all this time he is for he needs more time for cooking these days.

So I think you might like the cooking sim I think you might like like what it does with the story. I will admit I think this is I think I should say like this other piece, which is like I think it overstays, it's welcome. I think this would have been really perfect three hour game. By the end of the fourth hour, I was like, all right, I understand what you're doing here. I still recommend this game fully. It's full of twists and turns. It surprised me, it

I would have been more open minded if you hadn't said, wife, I disagree.

Because you would have opened the game and played it, and then you had been like, why does Mary want me to like buy this TV for this sexy little girl who like And there's also I'm just telling you the truth, which is like she's she's like t he thank you for helping me, And you're like, why am I playing this? But you you figure it out within with within ten minutes, give it tenntes.

No, I'm I was going to get it on Steam.

It's four hours. But don't look at the trailer.

I'm not. I'm just I'm on the Steam page.

I actually regretted looking at the trailer because like, there were things that the trailer revealed that I would have really enjoyed.

Holy shit. Discovering ninety thousand overwhelmingly positive reviews.

Oh really is this Mary? Would this be a good one to go in blind on streamed?

What?

Yeah, that's what I did?

Okay, I had really not like some weird it's going to be some demon vagina anime.

Thing demon vagina, but there are like tough.

Am I going to get arrested?

No?

No, it's not like he was great. It took out some like peanut pervert game. Okay, I will say all the time. I will admit that the girl is very cute and her age is nebulous, and like, I'm pretty sure she's eighteen.

I don't think I'm downloading. I might call the cops on by the endless podcast.

Now, what's gonna happen? Is he gonna forget this whole conversation happened. He's gonna get really into wife fu fiction in like three weeks and then he can forget And have you checked out why fiction? There's his wife who games called me sid side. I don't know why I thought to play this, but I got into white fou fiction.

I'm so grateful that I played this. This is how we'll end it. I think it was worth the money. I think it was worth absolutely the four hours. I am recommending it, but it is a journey, and I don't think anyone should google it. That's just how I feel about it.

Okay, as long as I without getting arrested.

Mike, what are you doing.

I'm on the Steam page. You didn't tell me not to look at stuff.

Don't look at the Steam page.

I saw the developer content description warning like that includes this and this and this and what the fuck? It's a different not not perfect, weird.

Stuff, not perfect weird stuff, but there's O stuff this.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's a cool game. I really, I really liked it. I will say, like, yeah, it's it has moments where it will surprise you or maybe even scare you. I think, like, I would not recommend this for people who are like I don't like being scared. It's like, okay, well then you won't like this game. Like I think this game tests your emotions and like, yeah, it's interesting.

It's just did ship.

I didn't. I haven't seen in a long time, you guys.

I I will take I will not. I'm not.

I'm not, but I don't want to describe it.

I'm sorry, hard headed.

I played it on the stream Dan. I started it and finished it in the same stream.

It's fifteen dollars, I will consider doing it.

Don't be a little cheap ass.

That's like four cases the cheap thing. It's just the anime stuff.

That I that, but that actually also comes into play in it, so like, I think it's actually important to the story. But it is hard. Probably it's a hard pill to swallow, but I think it's it's it's worth it because it kind of plays on these tropes. So anyway, I can't describe it anymore without like giving too much away. That's it.

That's how I have.

That's all I have to say.

I think I will probably next time we record and have something to say about it.

Four hours, Like give it four hours and I'd be very curious what you have to say.

Okay, wit, I think.

That's also interesting.

I will probably that's not it.

Don't don't quit in ten minutes.

Come on, we'll see if they say white fu, I'm fucking out.

They don't.

They don't say that, Okay. I think he's going to get to the Steam page to download it and see.

Just like the artwork, I'm more that when you download it, you're gonna look at it and you're gonna be like this, is like for little Wiener boy, is there a weight?

Well, if you can describe a game like that, I wouldn't recommend it to somebody or lit is that the genre? It does sound like something Dan Dad would say, Well, boys, and it's fucking high made. It's a woman drinking Francia.

Drinking Francion playing wife who games?

Is that what he imagines I do all day?

Uh?

He just gets mad every time.

Yeah, that woman. But then we had out like we get along really well.

Or is he just that's the thing, Mike, like he would He finds you funny and smart and everything, but like everything about your interests and everything he just deeply disapproves of.

Yeah, I get that. Yeah, Dan, you also played w W two K twenty five.

I won't worry you for too long with this because, uh, this is not the wrestling podcast by any means. But yeah, I wish I liked wrestling video games more than I do. I think that they have done a really good job in the last few years of turning it around after very disastrous like two K twenty. I feel like they've gotten every one of them has gotten a bit better

I'm not interested in that.

The Showcase mode thing where you kind of play through like history and stuff like that is based on the blood Line and all the different members of the Bloodline and Yokazuna and Roman reigns and the USO's and everything, and those are fine. It got rid of the parts where you're watching like real matches and things like that eight times between every normal match, which gets annoying. It's still a lot of putting the controller down and watching

Basically.

They added the Logan Paul's Prime bottle to the center of the ring and also the hydration station then, so there's plenty of Logan Paul advertisements throughout the game. It's there's too many modes. It's for me, like, the only things that appealed to me is like, Okay, the roster's updated.

You know, I get, I get the desire to play it as like someone who used to be in the year least sports games, but not so much anymore.

But it's just been like I haven't like wrestling is such a weird fucking industry and it has not translated to games well in a long time. I think, you know, like everyone has their N sixty four, you know, memories and stuff like that, and even before that. I liked a lot of that stuff, but like, I don't know, the more simulation it is, the more it's trying to simulate what actual like pro wrestling matches on TV look like, the less I'm interested in it.

And that's a common thing.

People like the more arcadie stuff typically, it's just it's it's a weird industry to translate to video games, and I don't like most of them all right, fair enough, but to say this is a good game, like this is a they've definitely made huge improvements for several years now, but like it's still not for me.

Really, when did When was the last time a wrestling video game was good that you liked? Well?

I mean, but that I liked, okay, because like I said, like this is I think this is a good game, but that I was really into. Uh here comes the Pain on PlayStation two, so we're wow. Can I give you sure?

You know how Mike has a tiered list of all the Bond films. Would you do a tier of your best to least wrestling games for next EPI?

Oh, yeah, yeah, I mean that that'd be easy. I could do that. I could rattle it off right.

Now here comes the Pain number one, no N sixty four, what would have been.

All the N sixty four one, so like no Mercy, then wrestlemin In two thousand, then WCWNW Revenge. Then I would probably say here comes the Pain, and it's just nostalgia. I kind of like the Roy Rumbling Raw ones.

And you don't want to think about this.

I mean, I've already.

Named the important ones, like the sixty four ones, and here comes the Pain are like the important ones to me. And then there's a bunch of like bad ones that I have nostalgia for, like the acclaim in sixty four, war Zone attitude stuff and roll Rumbling Raw, And then there's just a lot of super fucking forgettable modern ones.

There you have it, homework finished.

I'm a plus, thank you, A plus plus plus plus plus plus.

Dan doesn't get it. Damn.

Oh, it's cool.

It's uh it's an old PS two game, and uh, I think we all like the thing here right, mm hmm.

It's Mary's favorite movie, my third.

Favorite thing podcast. Yeah, yeah, it's just uh, it's interesting to play now. And like night Dive what they're doing Night Dive Studios, I have so much respect for what they're doing because like they are just taking these games that are not the most you know, like it's not a Metal Year or a Zelda remake. It's not the most you know big you know, Triple A name and

So I don't know, I really respect. I respected.

I respect the ambition more than maybe I enjoyed the moment to moment. Although I didn't like the moment to moment. I didn't think it was a bad game by any means. But more than anything, I was just like, kind of impressed with the ambition of this thing in an era where license games had anything but ambition.

You know, Yeah, well I check this out. It was cool.

I writ a great steam Deck game. I play the whole thing on steam Deck.

It was great. Cool. Mary, have you played that? You origin like the game or the remass? Sure, I feel like that's something you play.

Uh No, I feel like I should and I have not, And this is all news to me. I'm gonna be honest with you. I don't think I knew that this game was ever a thing.

It's called the Thing.

I didn't know that it existed.

Yeah, I mean, honestly, it's not really one that anyone talked about that much.

It's just that every time the Thing ever had any adaptations, including like sequels, they were dog shit. And I'm just when things are perfect, you just don't mess with them.

So and this isn't perfect, but like I do feel like it. It's earnest and it's it's clearly came from people who loved the film.

Yeah that's cool.

I mean I find that appealing. I really really liked I mean, this is my favorite movie. It's just hard to like imagine it as a game, but I could be.

I could be convinced it's better than you might think of this.

All right, I would like to play it, just just to have the experience of it. And Michael.

War Hammer, Oh yeah, I won't talk that about that enough. Vinnie and I have started both of our campaigns for the shows we're doing. I've seen a bunch of people say they are subscribing to both to watch the Evil and the Good campaign. It's going well, then, he's learning quickly. The Good campaign is a lot more in depth because he's playing we're playing fact, He's playing a faction that

It's nice to play co is on both our patreon, the fire Escape Patreon and the Next Lander Patreon.

Yeah, the Evil campaign is specific to Next Lander, and you can just you're not gonna miss any episodes of each campaign if you only subscribe to one. If you want to watch the Evil campaign, Vinnie's playing skull Taker, I'm playing Vampire Pirate captain, and then the Good campaign is on fire Escape. Both of them are the top tiers for our respective sites, So if you it's our video tier and it's there I don't know what the name of the tier. It's their top tier, so go

Plus it has Vinnie, like you can't lose. What else, Like,

And if you don't love Vinnie, maybe try to figure out what's wrong with you.

Yeah, and just like put up with Mike. It's Vinnie.

Yeah, look, Mike's not great, we all agree, but Vinnie's awesome. It's Vinnie and me, but Vinnie and Mike's there and me and Vinnie. Guys want to do you guys want to talk about some you want through emails.

Yeah, Vinnie, that'd be great, all right.

As usual, you can write in questions you want read on the show. Comment concerns to fire Escape cast at gmail.

Concerns dot com.

Yeah, we read concerns. Don't you were about that? It's Firescape past at gmail dot com. We've got some questions left in the tank, but send in some morgues. We've been going through them. Which one we want to start with this week? Wes, who's a constant emailer, always sends in good questions. This one I did. We had that conversation several episodes ago where we were saying some of

Yeah? Sure, So. I recently watched the coming of age film Sweethearts. In it, there was a minor character named Kurt who had like a minute of screen time, but he absolutely nailed it and ended up being one of the most memorable parts of the whole movie. What are some of your favorite minor characters in movies that had a big impact on the film. Thanks West from Baltimore.

Love I'm just thinking of it like amazing actors who fucking stole that one scene they were in.

Yes, okay, so mine is very much of that, because it's not a big impact on the film. In fact, I think most people who have seen Roadhouse, which is my choice here, probably don't even remember this moment.

But it's just one of the fucking henchmen.

Do you know what I'm talking about.

He's gonna do it, Mike's gonna do no. No, You're not getting in there with the legs, all right. I am not nearly as aggressive as the guy.

Yeah, all right. I know. They even describe it for our audio listeners. So it.

Is near the end were Swayze is like driving a car into the evil guy house or whatever, and there's just a bunch of henchmen out on the lawn with like shotguns and they're all just looking like eighties you know, movie henchmen and stuff. But There's one guy with a hilarious fucking mustache who was doing the funniest fucking thing with his leg ever and face while he Shooting's like the leg you can't like.

It's just like, yeah, I don't he's I don't understand. No one's ever shot a gun like this ever. In fact, it's detrimental to shooting a gun to lift your leg like that.

Yeah, a shotgun. He's shooting at a car and it's speeding and like we just die. We frame by frame that in college, like just the best ship.

It's really good. He's good. There's one line I don't even know if you can see the character when he says this caveat this by saying, I don't know how cool Runnings has aged. I was just thinking about that, But you were just thinking of cool running, thinking about yeah becau.

Jeff Grebb was talking about doing a toboggan trip with

No, how was cool Runnings held up?

Yeah?

Runs?

Yeah?

So again. I barely remember most of the movie, but I do remember this one scene where the characters basically like convincing the Jamaican guys to do the bob Sled event, and he's giving the speech in next to a bob sled and there's a crowd, and he says, the bob Sled, Gentleman is a sophisticated machine. And then just in the background, you hear some random dude shout, yeah, so it's a toilet.

That's pretty good.

My friend and I have just quoted that our whole lives, just and it gets more ridiculous each time we say it. So at this point we just be like, yeah, I was a toilet. That guy just that's one of the funniest things I've ever heard in my life. And I don't I don't even think he's credit. I don't think they show him, and they might, but in my memory they don't. He's just some unnamed person.

I feel like I feel like I did it differently. I was thinking of someone who was on the main character and like, maybe not.

Actual characters yet, but it.

Doesn't mean that they are like a nothing character. I just recently watched The Big Lebowski again. It has so many memorable characters, but I think one person that really just blew my mind because I kept thinking about them later was Julian Moore, who plays the crazy artist in it, and she just has she has such great it's her delivery. You have to see the doctor please. He's good and thorough and she's just so dictionate and every line she delivers I can't get out of my head.

Coen Brothers are fantastic, fantastic characters.

One of my Yeah, Alfred Molina and Buggie Knights of the Firecrackers and and he fucking sells it. And then he just starts singing Jesse's No not what song is this? It's No.

Eight six, seven, three or nine or it's one of those like eighties.

Yeah. And is Juzefan in this back car? Yeah? But he's amazing in that scene. He's another one. It's like, I can't imagine that movie. That scene is basically integral in the sense that that's showing his continued downfall. But I still think the movie could exist without the scene. But I can't imagine existing because of his performance. Oh I love it.

Yeah, And the Cohen's reminds me that there's a part in Raising Arizona where Nicholas Cage is like going to a gas station like side of the road and highway and he's like looking at the balloons. There's like a bunch of balloons on the counter, and he's like, do we got any balloons that come in like, you know, funny, funny shapes or anything like that. And there's just this like older guy working the gas station, stone faced, and he goes, not unless round's funny.

It's a good line. Well, the in the gas station scene with Anton Sugar Oh the No Country. Yeah, the dude he's talking to is perfect for that scene. Just this like West Texas dude, who it now that I'm thinking of this scene, I mean that scene's amazing for the coin flip monologue. But he also at one point he's like, yeah, so I own this shop. Well, my wife's father owned it. So Anton Schiger like coughs, He's like, you inherited this gas station was the most like he's

Mean, you're telling the trailer of that. When he's like, oh yeah, kind of American area, it.

Like like, oh this, yeah is amazing. Yeah. I was uncomfortable as they as Alex Garland wanted me to be that whole scene. It was rough. I don't know if I have any others that are like coming and out, and there's probably some like supporting characters that say a one offline that I quote all the time to my friends and just forgot about.

But yeah, Chris Farley and dirty work, dirty work.

Dirty work. You sent me the scene with Norm in the movie theater and what's his name? Oh Don Rickles, Don Rickles, Yeah, keeps making him laugh.

Yeah that's good.

But anyway, Yeah, ol for Milliam is great. But yeah, so it was a toilet Okay, Dan, you want to read this one from Oh actually, yeah, I guess does make more sense if you read let me let me read this one.

Oh, let me raise my desk for my camera. This might be wanting to watch the video for Maybe we'll do a social okay.

I did check with Dan before this to see whether he wants to double up with giant bomb content, but oh no, we can do this. Yes, hey, fire escapists. I'm currently watching a program titled Voicemail Dump Truck that a certain Dan Riker is on. He's attempting to Oh, he's currently watching it. Okay, he's attempting to explain how he puts his phone in his pocket. Since I greatly value your collective input, if it's not too much trouble, please give us a live reaction to Dan as he

You haven't seen the clips or anything. So you're totally.

Imagine based on the email. If you're doing well, it's.

Okay, or maybe you will for the audio listener. For the audio listener, definitely describe what you're seeing here. Well, let me start by asking when you put your phone in your pocket?

Oh, now I'm wordy, I do it weird? Well?

Which, first of all, which pocket you're doing?

Front? You're doing? Back?

I do front your front.

Mary.

Okay, so we'rell on the same page here, screen out, screen.

In, screen facing my thigh, Mary, I don't care.

Okay, that's probably reasonable. The charging port is that facing down into the pocket or up towards your face, facing up toward me like okay, I kind of treat it like a gun holster again, and I do not care or sa Mary. You're probably the reasonable one here. Okay, Mike, you were doing it the total opposite way of me. I do screen out, port down, and so this is what everyone freaked out about, is how you have to pull it out. So let's say, so I've got my

Okay, he's backing up. Someone just send him a text. Okay. He's realizing he just pulled it out. Wow, you just did like a one to eighty, like a but a forward gainer twirl with your one more time? Okay, sound okay, do it slower more slowly. He's slow motion. Am getting a text. Yeah, I think you got it's vibrating. It's like a gym. It's a fucking like twirl and a twist. Now let me ask, so you do port Yes, so watch screened. Well, okay, and then I'll try your way

This isn't how phones work.

He had to do a little turn. He had do an inverted hand.

I didn't have to spin it. It was in my position, in my hand, I just flipped it.

Now I've got my phone in my pocket. Mike's style weird style.

Now let me try this. Yeah, to be clear, I pulled my phone out. And then you know, if you

What There's so many more steps involved. If you do it your way, mic.

I just showed you how to do it normally. If you put your.

Hands, do it again.

Okay, you're getting a text. Okay, Wait, so what are you doing? Go slower so I can see. I'll try it your way.

Okay, I'm reaching into. Let's do it on the outside of my pocket. Pretend it's X ray reaching in. I'm grabbing it. My hand is already in the position it's going to be when I finally read it. I pull it out and I look at my phone. Let me try like a gun like you don't let me make you're like doc holidaying with your phone.

And it's not necessary. So screen and so it's upstand down both ways. Okay, it's not up.

Am I getting a text? Go? Yes? You are? What? Is he so fucked up?

When I pull it out of my pocket that way?

Okay? I was at first trying to do it your way, but it's upside down first and up first. I have to are you sure you're doing it my way? Because at first I thought you were. You're saying upside down screen in so let me try. Let's see you know what? Okay, so this is time. Look here's here's the camera on my phone. Literally it's flipped upside down like that.

Yeah, that's the camera.

You see that? Yes? Put okay, yes, okay, slip it into your pocket and don't let go of the phone. Don't let go the phone. Now pull it out the same way you just put it in. Do the reverse, b just.

Just do the reverse of how you put it into your pocket. We're so confused how simple it is.

It can't be that simple.

That is better?

Okay, so you go no, no, no, no, Yeah, he doesn't know what to do. To be clear, I get. I get how muscle memory is a powerful thing, Like I have you had a shower before? Well we talked too much about showers last time when you yeah, stop, it feels weird what you're doing because you did one thing out of order, like, oh god, I got to start over. Like I get it, but I'm trying to figure out what you're doing. You you had to do like two full spins, so let me go slow my way.

Yeah, Like I'm gonna have to like, look, I don't understand.

Keep doing what you've been doing.

You can do whatever you want. There's a reason that when cops holster their gune, when that they put their hand in the holster, it's in the exact position that it needs to be to use the gun. And I ask you, have you ever seen a cop where they have to take the gun and then turn it around and flip it.

They did.

Wow, there's a lot of.

Things where they could do it to the Wild West gun thing, because I like to think of Dan going into the middle of like this, like there's a tumbleweed goes by challenges to a duel. Yeah, the revolver gun. Yeah, your gun. In this metaphor, the barrel would be pointing up and the handle would be forward. Look if I as long as I get there quick enough, that's all the other.

Off's work.

Well, the part where I.

Got extra confusing was I was like, oh God, is this some stupid thing that like, is this a genetic thing? I called my dad on the dump truck live and I put them on a speakerphone. It was like, Dad, when you put your phone in your pocket, is it screen out screen in?

And he said, it's facing my ass.

How he goes back pocket. It's back pocket, I think, am I correct in thinking a lot more women put their phone in their back pocket? I think because of pant I think women have pant pocket.

Option is thatationally, front pockets in our pants are deceptively shallow, and that's to allow for like maximum thinness. We look really streamlined. But I do think that our pants in general are sexist. My favorite dresses have pockets.

Okays are great. We should bring cargo pants back?

They are there? Are they? Yeah?

Good news?

Dan? Yeah? Really? Could I get wearing cargo pants a good I mean there's a third they're they're like I don't know what brands are selling, but there's like nice ones of people are.

Par of Jenko's.

Dan.

No, I even back in the day, I was in the ground zero of Jinko's culture, and I never I was too afraid to do jink I don't want to stand out hanging off of you.

Yeah, I want to stand out.

Like a loose fit. Yeah, like these are these are I'll send it to discord. These are in now? I see these a fair amount more and more every day like that, you've probably seen these four Now that you think of it, kind of a bit baggy, loose fitting, but like the olive green okay, like gapscot One something.

Oh yeah, cargo.

That's great, especially now because I always want to carry around a bunch of like handheld and stuff.

Remember remember Carpenter jeans with the hammer loop. Did you wear those? Was? No?

Again, I never wore anything that was in style. I just didn't want to be noticed ever. So just like plain colors and normal pants and nothing in trend ever.

Okay, fair enough, but anyway, Yeah, I keep doing what works for you, but I I will, but I do. You did help me there.

I think doing it outside the pants I think showed me that, like, oh that is a pretty smooth Yeah.

You all thought it.

Yeah, twist it's like part of your like little mini routines throughout the day.

You can't do it. You can open your phone however you want. I think they just want the acknowledgment that it's not it was street.

It was confusing that you thought that was the simplest way.

I never I just never thought about it ever. It's just like that's how you put your phone in your pocket.

Because I will say I think that's it.

It's like I'm not going to intentionally ever put something upside down.

But it would just be so Honestly, Now, the more I think about it, kind of is weird because that would be relliant, that would be more. It's it's not the screen facing out that messes with me. It's the charging port, the bottom of the phone being at the bottom.

That's them. But that's the bottom. What's the bottom of your body? Your feet?

I don't disagree that it's the bottom of the phone. It literally it is, but you're not. That's not how like pockets work. Again, that's my like. That is the barrel of the gun facing up.

When you put your wallet in your pocket? Are all of the dollar bills upside down? No one thinks about that. I can't even follow my own dumb logic.

That I put in actually.

Heads facing of.

I'm not I'm not that O use a do use a bifold wallet? I'm kidding.

I got one of those minimalist gimmicks. If it's like five cards, yeah.

I still use a wallet, I will say. People who put their wallet, I'm curious now if there are anybody who puts their wallet in their pocket. Crease up, open part down, No, open part down is what I do really that feels. It feels if it's like the open party is near the opening, there's too much open it down. I could see that logic, but I feel like it's more likely it will like something will fall out into

Straight out wallet, but the opening is facing up. All things would fall out if they were facing down.

Yeah, I don't know. Well, thank you from Jerry in Wisconsin. Uh, Dan, you want to read this one. This is not necessarily for me. It just mentions an example of me at first.

Sure, I fire Escape a fair while ago. Mike spoke about House of Leaves. His description sounded intriguing, and I finally got around to starting it this last week, about half way through and loving it. The structure is so interesting in the plot is extremely creepy and compelling. My question is, do any of you have any recommendations in this vein for books, movies, games, or any other media that play with the form of the medium to create

Check out Stanley Parable for sure, especially Stanley Parable, get the Deluxe, additional Ultra Deluxe, play the original content and then do stuff after.

That's one of the best of that.

Honestly, metal Gear, like metal Gear does a lot of just kind of playing with like you know, the interaction of a player in a game and things like that.

Mental Gear is great at that I.

Mentioned it earlier. This isn't as much as like picking apart how games are played. But I do love like her story and I didn't I didn't fully like what was the video editing one from like two years ago Sam Barlow as well, Yeah, Immortality. I didn't love the game overall, but I did like the gameplay concept of scrubbing through timelines to find like frames that were out of place. Sure, so anything by Sam Barlow.

And her story is brilliant and I really appreciate you bringing it up because I think it really does mix people who love maybe like a book that's like a who Done It? Or murder mystery or where is She? Discovery? But the game is the only way where that you can actually have a choose your own ending novel, and it is the perfect use of game as a medium. But you get to discover it and read it your way, And so I really think her story is genius in that.

I still like Cabin in the Woods. I went back to it recently. I was wondering if it was going to be like, has this not aged well? Was I just like in my college years, thinking oh, this is great. I don't like most shit Joss Whedon does in retrospect, but.

Oh I didn't know that was Josh Whedon.

Yeah, Cabin in the Woods. Unfortunately, I still like quite a bit.

It's very it's such a good movie.

It's so fucking fun. It's still just for it yeah, it like keeps video gamy.

Changing your expectations every time you think something is going to happen. It's like fucking with you. I think it's

Those are These are all like fart sniffy games. So it makes sense. I love it.

Yeah, I love that stuff.

Those are all But is there subtext?

Is what I want to know?

This is probably about capitalists?

Oh the t tarriffs?

Yeh, smartly?

Do you think about it? And then and then and then there's and then the met and the terriffs. Have you wait, have either of you read going back to the original email, have either of you read House of Leaves? I own it.

I always liked the idea of it because like the gimmick of like, you know, the house that's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. And then like I've seen the pages where it's like it works. There's blank pages and there's one of the texts spiraling around like I like gimmicks, Like it seems kimmicking in a good way, and I like good gimmicks.

And so I've always wanted to read it.

It's got control vibes for sure, like remedy, remedy, like Kyle Riley and Sam Lake absolutely like that helped inspire control among other things. I think. Actually that's two things now that just came to mind as well. SCP Foundation. Do you guys know that internet archives?

I've heard of that.

Yeah, those are still fun. Every once in a while, I'll like if I'm like, if I have Wi Fi and a plane or something. Actually, actually I had a weird one where I came across a plane horror story on SCP while I was on a plane, so maybe be careful. It's an internet archive. That's basically if you're into the environmental storytelling in Control, it's very much that like CIA that hunts down and covers up supernatural shit that they don't want people to know about, and it's

At this, Mary.

When we were in Portland, Cee and you, our uber driver was asking about what we did, and we brought up video games and he brought up this game and it's like we had not heard of it before, and it's like this sounds fucking crazy, and well.

That's crazy. That's such a fun interaction to have.

Ye, it was a great talk. Yeah, backways, Oh god, somebody, it's like a big building. There's different floors and stuff.

Right the back back rooms. So just yeah, what is the website? It's actually really cool. It's so it's at its core, it's a collaborative fiction project that structured like SEP Foundation. If you just go to it's basically a wiki and it's designed for you to go down individual rabbit holes and if you want to write some stuff for it, you have to post photos and you have to describe the rules of how they got there. It's the fiction is like once someone gets into the back rooms,

I've been in those type of things that like a bunch of like arenas and different so I feel like I know what you're talking.

I used to. I met someone who worked down in the food court when I was working on My first job was at the movie theater Regal Cinema is the Carousel Ball at the time. It's now Destiny and Syracuse. And to get from the movie theater, which was third floor, I used to have to go across these two walkways and I'm terrified of heights, and the center of this mall is big and open, and I would hate going

I think Dokye Dokie Literature Club belongs in here because it is genre bending where you think you're having an experience and it's not the experience you expected. Dan, do you know anything about dokyduk?

You literally a vis right?

It is, yeah, but it takes he knows he It takes large twists and turns, and it also does really fun stuff where it like it self quits if that makes sense. It does the thing there's a bit of a spoiler, but I think it's it helps to answer this, which is like it does this thing where like it says it's going to quit the game, but you're still in the game, and it even like shows you the file of where the game is on your computer. Shit

That to you, And that's the stuff that makes me think of like when I say Meddle, you're solid because like specifically the narrow down to one and two, you know one had the boss fight with Psychomantis where he's like, I'm going to read your mind and he reads your fucking PlayStation memory.

Card like Castlevania Symphony the Night.

That's my saying stuff based on like, oh, you easily fall for traps and he'll only say that if you fell into a bunch of traps and stuff like that. And then in two when like to the colonel calls like right, and you've been playing the game a long time,

Telling me to turn off my station two.

Imagine a kid coming up to the like the living room and his mom didn't know what he was doing, and the kids like, yeah, the colonel told me to stop playing. Yeah, like there one and two.

I think, really, if you play one and then you played two, the entirety of two is just this commentary on expectations of a sequel and the player relationship to a character and stuff from controlling Solid Snake and stuff like that, and you were basically riding's kind of the surrogate for the player. It is you need to play both of them and then just look up a bunch

Is middle of your selid two.

There, remind me have a few last ones or for me last ones monument Valley. Those mobile puzzle games. Third one just came out on Netflix recently through Netflix subscription. But the way you're kind of rotating your phone and playing with perspective, same with fees. Yeah, speaking of fez games that basically tell you up front you should have a notebook as an ancillary thing. Return of the ober Din Oh and LAURAAI and her Laser Eyes, which I still have. Sorry, Jake, I still have not played. I

It's great to just ask that because I usually do find my favorite things by saying, like, this is something that maybe you don't recognize is so valuable because it's niche in this very nuanced way. I think it's cool to have that conversation where you're just like, this isn't for everyone. Like the games we've all recommended aren't universally beloved. They're just like really good for a very specific reason, which is just they're kind of fucked up and play with you a little bit.

Oh yeah, all right, thank you.

Will again. That's Firescape cast at gmail dot com sending more questions. Load that bank up. That's our episode, a good one. If you're not a patron, you can go treating like a tip jar. If you appreciate what we do, you can get ad free episod. You can get video versions of the episodes. You can see Dan's weird doc Holiday Phone Flipping. You can also get access to the good campaign the Vinnie from Nextlander and I are doing

Yeah, I thought of another. I thought of another one that uses the medium really well. Yes, undertail. Oh yeah, it's crazy, guys, Like it's just like you'll like play the game and by the end of it it'll be like, what do you mean you murdered people?

Like it's so near automata. That's a good trigger.

Back in ninety eight, was doing was like the first it was like laid the groundwork for this question.

You're my way off with ninety.

Yeah, that's one thing that I thought was sending cowardly about fucking Sindy was the whatever the head? Well yeah, they said that, like, oh yeah, if you do this or if it gets too bad, it's going to delete your save. Oh oh, I fucking love that's some Kajimas ship.

I love that.

And it turns out it was just a bluff, and it's like, no, fucking commit to it. If you're going to say it.

We're gonna say that delete my safe because I suck.

Yeah, I agree, I want that.

I agree with you. There was a point where I was losing and like I just wasn't doing good enough, and I was like, I don't want my save to be deleted.

But man, it real? Yeah it made in playing Devil's Advocate? Didn't it make it more tense every time you died because you thought it was real? Kill?

It was real?

I can't agree.

I agree, But like Kajemo wanted to be a fucking game back in the PlayStation era when if you died, your fucking disc.

Burnt up just drive. Yes, I know, I so wish that happened. He made the game he made Tie where you has a solar panel and you have to take it out.

Then it's like a banksy it like it like erases itself and like ships its pants if you don't win.

But but like I want to draw the comparison between Kojima and uh ninja theory? Am I getting? Is a ninja theory?

Gama has balls? Ninja theory doesn't hold on?

Hold on? Is it ninja theory? I want to make sure I'm naming them correctly before I say this, yeah theory blade, I mean I get that gick. So, so Kojima never lied about anything, especially like big gameplay demos before a game came out. Is that what you're saying, he should.

Have stopped lying about the fucking.

Going to be and that was incredible? Okay, So he lies, obsting the He lied in order to get to an intended emotional effect with the game. They lied because they wanted to feel like you might lose your progress at one point. It's just there's similar.

But when you found out so smarts' if you when you find out the reasoning for why Kajima did that, it's like, oh, I get that. When it's you find out what happened with the hell Blade, it's like, oh, they're cowards.

No, they were creating. They were making it more tense every time they've done did you find out balls? Hell Blade?

Cowards?

Kajima was trying to get to the player, to a specific place.

The great game to have big balls, just swinging, hairy balls coming off the disc.

Yeah, like truck nuts coming off my metal.

Your disk. It just won't even go into your console because the truck nuts. They can't shut the lid.

Did your game cartridge hap nut?

Oh, that's discussing. You got one of these pussy as games? No nuts? Not that? What is this game? Eldon Ring has no nuts? The game's probably for posting.

The Elder Ring's got nuts. Brother, No, there's no truck nuts on it.

It's for pussies. No truck nuts on that game, got truck nuts? These these from soft ware guys must be huge pussy's for not putting truck nuts on their discs. It's such a stupid vision, much more than pretty small truck nuts. It's trying to go to the console, but it won't, so it just keeps trying to.

Go in console because they put nuts on this.

The next p S five version is going to have a slot for the nuts to go through.

Yeah, Jim would do it. Yeah, yeah, he would do yeah.

Nuts, yes, center the nuts fallen.

The PS six will have a little like trough for the nuts so it doesn't break the laser.

Yeh, fins so it goes upwards.

Oh yeah, the centrifical forest the nuts.

Because of the centrifugal force. Thank you, Dan.

The game's gonna be it's good. The game is gonna be called like nut Trey, and it's gonna have characters like Dickman and Penis Woman and Vagina bay Tray and he's like. The intention was we wanted to create a metaphor for players who might buy a console with a truck nut slot scrotum. Dick Man is a stand in for energy drink drinkers, so we needed to include Monster.

We don't deserve him, No, we don't.

But I love that we're like de evolving games because we have to have little connected nut sacks on them.

I like it.

I think that's the next physical media is dead, but I think this is it's gonna come back.

That's stranding. Best game of twenty twenty two was all about deconstructing Fetch quests. It's true, that's Stranding Director's cut, best game of twenty two.

That's what we said.

Damn it all right, escapecast Gmail dot com, go to Patreon dot com, slash fire escape to become a patron, Go to next Lander. I don't know their exactly r I'll just go to Patreon and find next Lander. You'll find them.

Good Pussy dot com, Damn funny URLs.

Come on, Vinny brad Alex. What do you got? Go to Deep Dishpussy dot Coffee, want to become a Patreon member. Feel like we had one other thing. I don't think so, Dan, What do you have going on in the meantime?

Oh, we're doing fun stuff over at the Giant Bomb. We're launching new kind of like always on during the day programming schedule stuff, and I got my own show on there. Greb's got his own show. We got a well, I don't want to name specific shows that have been announced yet or anything, but we got fun stuff going on. So basically, tune into Giant Bomb or game spots, YouTube or Twitch throughout the day if your at work opens up in a tab. We got the stuff going on. It's been very fun cool.

Mary what about you.

Usual Twitch for live streaming game experiences, because I'm downloading a lot of my old VODs. They're all going on my YouTube channel just so that you can watch old Twitch pods from twenty eighteen, which is such a mind fuck for me that I've been streaming for that long. That's it?

What about you? Just here forward facing, busy with day job consulting stuff. Wine certification tests coming up on May first? Yeah?

Yeah, Mike, if I wanted to as a bit, could I sign up?

And like?

Could I laugh?

You?

Could? I? Yeah? Could I get past you?

Like?

If I put my entire free time towards this, I think there's.

Like an intensive, week long version of what I don't know mine sixteen weeks two and a half hours class time a week, but like sixty hours of self study.

I don't think about it.

You would have to you'd have to gain No, I mean feasibly maybe, but you would have you're skipping the level three.

I just think it'd be funny to like, all of a sudden no more than you about it.

I just think it would be hilarious as well. But just talking realistically, I don't think so.

Okay, Well then maybe I won't do it. Yeah, it talked me off the ledge.

Like what what what reagion in Spain has the most you know, the Pagos.

Madrid? No, you just Spain place. That's the only Spain place I know.

It's named Spain, the only Spain I know. So I got no you know other you know, at least one other big city in Spain.

Hang on hand, don't wait, Madrid, Spain.

Mary was here? Barcelona, right, run of the Bulls. Yeah, that's Pamplona, Barcelona.

I believe what it's called.

Barcelona was the Olympics, right, it wasn't like ninety two.

Or I'm sure at some point. I'm sure every city was the Olympics at some point in my lifetime. I feel like Barcelona, Atlanta the Olympics. I think Barcelona was the Olympics when I was a year old.

Yeah, yeah, that's the one I remember. Yeah, I didn't watch it, but I knew it was the only way I keep.

My countries in order. It's have they been an Olympic and what year?

Well that's our episode. That's what I'm too. We'll be back in the meantime. Like I said, if you're listening to this episode as of Right now, you can go watch the first episode of the evil campaign of that's called Mike and Vinnie Destroyed Vinnie and Mike Destroy the World. Next episode of Mike and Vinnie Save the World will be up on Monday this coming Monday on our Patreon, we're alternating. We got a bunch of banks, so we're not gonna miss any We'll see you in a couple