October 13, 2014

Welcome to our inaugural podcast!  In this episode, Chuck and Ethan talk about Settlers of Catan trading strategy and the comedy of Norm MacDonald.  Topics also covered include Freddie Mercury, the bizarre beauty of South Florida, the unhappy fate of Factory Records, why Lawrence of Arabia is so stoic, and what Ethan did to Chuck’s sink.

Remember, if you’re playing Settlers:

Here’s a list of other subjects covered on the show, for your easy reference: Freddie Mercurywas the lead singer of Queen until his death from AIDS in 1992.  The world seemed a little brighter with him in it.  Chuck correctly identified his first name at birth as “Farrokh”.  You can watch the awesomely astrophysical video for the song, “Play the Game” on YouTube right here.

T. E. Lawrence or Lawrence of Arabia, was played by Peter O’Toole in David Lean’s epic 1962 film (O’Toole, amazingly, never won an Academy Award for that role, or for any other specific role, for that matter.

Rowan Atkinson is a British comedic actor who is famous internationally for his physical comedy as Mr. Bean, and his verbal comedy as Blackadder. We will post a side-by-side comparison photo so you can decide whether Ethan and Rowan really are dead ringers for one another.

Barca Velha of the Alto Duoro region in Portugal, and Bodregas Vega Sicilia and Dominio de Pingus, of the Ribera del Duero region in Spain, make truly profound wines, according to Chuck (and he knows.)

The Happy Mondays and the story of Madchester and Factory Records can be experienced in the movie 24 Hour Party People, a must watch for music history buffs (Ethan incorrectly calls the founder of Factory Records Ian Wilson– his name was actually Tony Wilson)

“To Serve Man” was a famous episode of the Twilight Zone where human-eating aliens land on Earth and begin cunningly herding up people for butchering!  Watch the whole episode on YouTube right here.

Hannibal is the Thomas Harris novel Ethan mentions (Chuck makes it clear he doesn’t approve of this book).

Casu Marzu, the Sardinian sheep’s cheese made using fly larvae that Chuck mentions (both Ethan and Chuck would like to try this stuff)

#googlepicturesurprise is the game sweeping the nation where you look yourself up on Google, click on ‘images’, pick the most surprising image that appears, and post it to Twitter and Facebook.

For you football fantasists, Chuck & Chris have another podcast called Fantasy Idiot/Fantasy Genius (FIFG).  The topics are fantasy football and ethics.  You can get it here.

The Brazilian dancer doing the Quad (whose video caused an intense reaction in Ethan) is named Anitta.  She’s technically a singer, but probably most famous for her dance moves. She is the hottest act in Brazil right now.

The full name for the Quad is the Quadradinho, which means “little square” in Portuguese.  Here’sthe infamous video Ethan couldn’t handle.  If you want to go even deeper and learn the Quad yourself, here’s an instructional video from Anitta.  Finally, here’s her hit song/video, currently burning up the charts all over Brazil, Show das Poderosas.

Norm MacDonald’s new show is called Norm MacDonald live.  You can check it out on YouTubehere.

In 1998, O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murdering his wife (Nicole Brown Simpson) and her suspected lover, Ron Goldman, in the dramatic conclusion to The Trial of the Century.  Norm thinks O.J. was guilty.  These days, O.J. is in prison for other reasons.

The State is the iconic Generation Y MTV sketch show Chuck mentions.  Many of the cast members would reunite a decade later for the hit show, Reno 911!, on Comedy Central.  Both shows are worth checking out.

Tiger Woods did indeed win Golfer of the Year at the ESPYs the year Norm hosted, 1998.

Kool Keith is one of the greatest rappers ever, and one of the greatest parodists ever.  Imagine an African-American hybrid of Lenny Bruce and Weird Al Yankovich, who raps better than anyone you’ve ever heard.  Check out his website, if you dare. He has some wild tracks & videos up.

Norm is not married to Gertrude but he does have a son.  We do our research here, even if it’s after the show is over!

Super Dave Osbourne is the comedian Norm has on his show, reacting to his reprehensible joke about the meanest type of dogs.  He tells an amazingly off-color joke to Jerry Seinfeld in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm.  Worth watching.

Don’t forget to check out Ethan’s first stand-up set at the Improv Comedy Club, Hard Rock Casino and Resort in Hollywood, Florida, this Wednesday night, October 15, at 8PM!  Ethan encourages you to come and heckle him.

If we missed anything, you had questions about anything we discussed, or you want to suggest topics for future shows, we’d love to hear from you.  You can post in the comments section, or, as we said on the show, you can connect with us on twitter:  Chuck’s twitter is @cferrin5 and Ethan’s is @ethanisnotfunny.  You can also write us directly at [email protected].

Thanks for listening!