Episode 455: 1983

Pre-show Patreon only:
Steven wants to know if anyone wants about 50 blank CDs. Nope. Ben grieves by doing work. He's learning a lot about himself. Ben sent his wife a birthday message recorded by an Argentinian Bruce Willis lookalike.

This episode contains: Happy Birthday Devon! We recorded a podcast without you! Don't remember a birthday? You can remember a BELATED BIRTHDAY! Ben is giving his wife 40 gifts over 40 days for her 40th birthday. Steven says Ben is a good gifter... and should give him more gifts. Ben thanks Big Door Prize for the idea of 40 gifts for turning 40.  Steven makes fun of a hat that Devon wears while boating, but he rocks it NGL. We giggle like idiots for most of this show.

Oh Man, Vacation’s Coming: More structure, fewer screens makes for healthier kids in the school holidays. Ben gets grizzled about the terrible screen-filled present we live in. Advertising revenue is more important than the health of the populace? #NoMoreScreens. Ben wishes his son was a foodie. So sad. He eats to live, not lives to eat. A study in Australia showed that kids are generally less healthy during school holidays. At what age do children get different levels of independence? Like, making their own snacks? On holidays, kids watch a whole lot more screens. How bad is this? We suggest setting limits on screen time for kids on holiday. When we were kids, we found things to do.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/04/230414113518.htm 

So I Listened to Another Podcast: Trip to alphaSyntauri | Welcome to Macintosh. I guess we now know how to pronounce Moog. Thanks Welcome to Macintosh! Charlie Kellner created a synth on an Apple ][, and it was used for TRON sound effects. The Dolphin Research Center used alphaSyntauri on Apple ][ to communicate with dolphins. Obviously, dolphins love TRON.

https://www.macintosh.fm/episodes/3 

You Know What Else Makes Sense To Me?: Tetris on a chicken nugget is the game as it was meant to be played. Ready to play Tetris on a chicken mcnugget? This is the 40th anniversary of the chicken mcnugget! Hooray for 1983! But can the chicken mcnugget run Doom? Tetris will celebrate 40 years next year, as it was made in 1984. You need a chicken mcnugget 4 times the size to play Tetris on it. Steven and Ben sing Korobeiniki (the Tetris song) on this week's show.  They're only making 400,000 mcnugget-Tetris machines.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2023/05/finally-you-can-play-tetris-on-a-giant-chicken-nugget/ 

Mid-show Patreon only:
Ben's living his best life: mounted his split ergo keyboard to two tripods. Ben's cat is turning 17 this year. We remember the day he nearly murdered Devon.

Science Fiction: Spicy take from Steven: cooking is just following directions. We love balancing chemistry equations... can someone make a balancing equations game? Silo is a great show, and Devon is an absolute legend. The compact disk was invented in 1983. Steven never knows what Ben is talking about. Isn't Silo just a Fallout show? Nay. This about life IN the vault. Silo is about how a society has been shaped to live underground for hundreds of years? Steven digs how non-linear the storytelling in Silo is. Does Silo out-LOST LOST? Shoutout to Jason Gurley this week, and his "Greatfall: A Silo Novel". Silo gets five stars out of three from us. You read that right. Jason Gurley's "Eleanor" is incredible.  Steven read Jason Gurley's "The Dark Age" on the day his first daughter was born. Whoa. Steven's coming to terms with Anakin's character in the Star Wars prequels. Anakin is a deeply damaged individual, lost his mom and replaced her with Padme. Did Anakin use force powers to make Padme love him? Gives a different context to his creepy dialogue. Once Anakin is betrayed by Padme, he cuts off the "force love" and Padme dies from withdrawals? Clone Wars Anakin is very different from prequel movies Anakin. Men in Black holds up. Great film. Men in Black was a Marvel comic... could we see the MiB in the MCU?!? The Men in Black and Starship Troopers: Roughnecks cartoons were big for Ben in High School. Steven had a tape of Ghostbusters from TV, edited for content. Funny! Are y'all ready for seeing Mariner and Boimler in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds?

Post-show Patreon only:
We talk about the video games Star Trek: Resurgence and TRON: Identity.