'40 Going On 14'.... What is it?

What is '40 Going On 14' you might ask? Well, it's quickly becoming a bit of an obsession. I think my cousin, fellow blogger and podcaster, Josh, summed it up best on his blog:

"....I post when I want to, not because I need to anymore. I've come to terms with that. I like these outlets to be a labor of love, not one purely of obligation, because the content is always better when I'm inspired, rather than required to create it. The collaboration I've found in this podcast, called '40 Going On 14'... well, it is inspiring."

That's the same way I've felt, ever since this started: 'inspired'. Granted, it's only been a week since we first recorded, but sometimes that all it takes. A kick in the ass, a push off the cliff, someone to push on the gas and the next thing you know.... you're doing 90 in a 55 mph zone. That's exactly what this has been, a whirlwind of creativity. It's just something that you don't find very often.

The podcast consists of myself, Pat, Josh and Mike. The four of us originally met in college nearly two decades ago. In the years since then, we have talked about and talked about all of these grand plans for amazing things. However, the four of us never could seem to get anything off the ground. Call it the apathy of youth or just general laziness, I don't know. But here we are, almost 40 and finally feeling like it's time to crap or get off the pot. My wife has been wondering what's taken us so long. Honestly, I think we all needed to live our lives and cultivate our own interests and grow and mature and get married and junk. That way we could come back together like a super mega ultra Zord of geekiness.... we compliment each other in such a way that we make one ultra nerd.

Pictured above: Josh in blue, Me in green and Pat in orange during a production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'

Don't you already have a podcast? Why yes, yes I do. I have two of them. But this is different. 'The Sunshine Happy Kpants Hour' is all about me and some amazing music. 'The Undercover Unitards' is a straight up comedy show. '40 Going On 14' is nostalgia, wrapped in geek life and culture, wrapped in 4 guys who're "brothers from another mother". It's a show that helps those of us who are kids at heart, but with knee problems.... cope with growing older and seeing things from both sides of the coin. It's a love song to years gone by and things yet to come. It's a chance for the four of us to do what we've always done, but to share it with the listener. We each have our own skill sets and specialties. We all have different backgrounds and upbringings. We all see the world in a slightly different way. It creates a comprehensive study on everything from video games, movies, music, television and role playing games to growing older, getting married, having kids and being single in the great state of Texas.

This is what we've been building towards all of these years. A chance to get together every week and take a break from real life. A chance to talk about the stuff that we're passionate about and not be ashamed to let our freak flag fly. I think that our hope with the show, is to allow everyone else to have that same break from reality. There's no judgement here. We're all big kids at heart, who still like to play with toys.

Pictured above: Mike and Pat.... sharing a grape.

There's really not much more I can say, that I haven't said already. If you like anything that you've read in this post, then check us out. Give us 1 hour of your time, I think you'll like what you hear. I'm really proud of what we've put created. It's just like those long nights of sitting around the dorm and talking about nothing specific and everything in general. I've included a direct link to stream it on Talkshoe. You can find it at the bottom of this post. We're available for download, as well, through: Bluberry, Stitcher, iTunes and other fine podcasting directories. Along with the weekly podcast, we'll be posting blogs and other fun stuff online. You can find that stuff on our Facebook page, Twitter and http://www.40go14.com. Thank you for your time and look for a new episode to drop this next Sunday! I love these guys and I think you will too.

I WON AN AWARD....! i'm not sure i deserve it....

I just found out earlier in the week that I was given an award for my blog. I knew people were reading it on occasion and I get feedback here and there about the posts I put up, but I wouldn't think of it deserving any high praise. Leave it to my co-blogger DocStout, to take the time and effort to award me with The Liebster Award!

He was given the same honor and was asked to pass it along to a few other fellow bloggers that he felt deserved it. Thank you to DocStout for bestowing this on me, it validates all the time and energy put into this little film site. If you'd like to read about his award and the blurb about this site, you can check it out here: http://gettingmyheadonstraight.blogspot.com/2011/04/bonus-post-wednesday-many-thanks.html
I've also recommended that you read his blog, it's a great site and he's a good guy with a lot of stuff to say. If you're a geek and love to let your geek flag fly, he's a great guy to lead the charge and I'm proud to say that I'm a memeber of that community too. Thanks again and look for more posts coming soon!

DocStout's brief thoughts on.... 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World' (2010)

Hello, everyone. Doc here, doing a fill-in guest post for Joel here on “A Momentary Lapse.” I'm taking a break from writing about nerdy, geeky things at my own blog, “What's Next – The Unemployed Geek” to write about a nerdy, geeky movie here.

I wanted to see this movie nearly as soon as I heard about it, even though I was initially unfamiliar with the graphic novel it is based on. Entertainment based on comics and graphic novels has kind of a checkered past. A filmmaker has to balance a lot of elements, as comic fans basically want to see their beloved properties replicated exactly on the screen, the average person watching a movie wants to see something not too far out of their comfort zone, and a filmmaker wants to successfully translate something from one medium to another while putting their own creativity into the project. This delicate juggling act has been attempted many times before, with varying degrees of success.

Successful Adaptation.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World falls cleanly on the side of “pleasing fans of the comic”, which, to declare my own personal bias, is where I like these things to land. The story follows the life of the geeky guy who never really got over his last ex, plays in a band and complicates his life by dating a “fake asian high school girlfriend” until he meets the woman of his dreams (literally.) After awkwardly wooing her (as any character played by Michael Cera tends to do,) he discovers a bit about her past. Namely, she has 7 evil exes, who he'll have to fight to the death in order to be with her.

...not so much.

A lot of people will initially see a few of the stylistic elements in this movie and make up their minds about it really quickly. There are frequently elements on-screen of things normally only seen in comics or video games that are a part of the reality in this world, and people either buy into those things and grin, or think 'that was stupid' and move on. Personally, when I see comic book “action effects” hanging in the air, or 8-bit Nintendo-style RPG graphics appear to illustrate a concept, I think it is awesome. The characters are into the things that make their presence known in this world, and it gives the setting a distinct “feel” to it.

The fight scenes are awesome, and the casting for most of the roles, even the fairly minor characters feels spot-on, with the only minor doubts coming from the casting and performance of the lead. Michael Cera plays Scott Pilgrim like... well, virtually any other Michael Cera role, and we only know that he is a womanizer with awesome talents because the script and dialogue tells us so. His performance isn't distracting enough to diminish the movie, and there are some scenes with him that are pure gold. (I particularly liked a moment when Scott is asked if he can see a future with Ramona, and he asks confusedly and with apt comic timing... “Like... with jetpacks?”)

This is an example of how faithful to the comic certain parts are.

The pacing of the movie itself has some bumps and bruises along the way, but I don't think it really ever slows down enough where I felt bored, even for a moment, or is so fast that I can't believe in the progression of character development (think Dune). This is a film I can (and have) watch(ed) multiple times, and can appreciate some of the clever bits better the second time through.

This is definitely not for everyone, but if you are a fan of anime, comics, 8-bit videogames and are not immediately turned away by “quirky Michael Cera love story,” it is likely the movie for you. My rating puts it at 4 out of 5 stars, only deducting a star for the feeling that the lead could maybe have been better cast.

One last note, thanks to Joel for lending me his soapbox to stand on and yell for a few, and in case you missed it, here is a link here to his guest spot on my own blog, What's Next – The Unemployed Geek.