Sunday, September 28, 2014

The Journey So Far

   First off, I want to say that I never envisioned The Stuff Podcast would be where it's at today. It's astounding and I'm very humbled by all the support the show has received. That goes with out saying, I can't not mention my co-host Michael Watson. He has been my rock, my best friend, and all around ass kicker. 

   I initially met Mike through a mutual friend of ours, Victor Dandridge. I was doing some event coverage for Creative Control Fest when he introduced us. We got to talking about our aspirations and realized that we couldn't not do something together. He mentioned he wanted to do a podcast and I mentioned I used to work for a podcast website. Magical ever since. Just kidding, it wouldn't be a really good story is it ended now. 

  After doing some planning, we decided to meet every Thursday evening at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. We went on to record over the course of several weeks near a coffee shop that closed right when we started the show. We were hassled by security, people passing by etc. It was stressful, but we managed. One day as we were leaving, I noticed that there was a comic book shop that was open. I've seen the store before, but it was always closed when we were recording the show. 

   I went in, talked to the store owner, Doug Simms, and mentioned that we did a podcast. He got really excited and told me he was looking to do a podcast for quite sometime now, but didn't know how to go about doing. This almost seemed too good to be true. He offered to let us record in the shop every week which took care of the problem being hassled. Doug went beyond that though. He offered to be a sponsor of the show, which is amazing. Because of this, we've been able to go to multiple shows in the comic convention circuit. 

  This past year has been a real fun experience for Mike and I. Though sometimes we might hit some rough patches with editing, upload times and so on, we've been able to turn something that was a hobby for us into a full on show that people listen to every week. If we can make this much progress in one year, I can't wait what the next year will bring for us. 

-James

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Gotham or Agents of SHIELD

Hello all this is FS from The Stuff, posing/poll a question from the podcast page. Please vote and share your thoughts. Both these shows are approaching their stories and characters differently, who is doing it better? Whose opening episode was better?


Vote Here for Gotham or Agents of SHIELD

Monday, September 22, 2014

Fandom or Not to Fandom

   I met a doctor this weekend and his name was Paul McGann, the 8th Doctor from the famed Doctor Who Series. I am not a Doctor Who fan, and I can understand the craze because I am a geek. I can geek out like a little school girl myself. Just as I did when I got my picture taken with Gimli (aka John Ryhs-Davies). So I will never disrespect a DW fan by saying I don't get it. Plus I love the brits, lol. 

   I happen to have had the pleasure of going to the Cincy Comic Con with the Sci Fi Photo Guys this weekend due to my part time employment with them as a digital artist. We were signed on to do the celebrity photography for the convention. We took pictures for Jason David Frank, Henry Winkler, Jewel Staite, Julie Newmar, Lou Ferrigno, Walter Jones, William Kircher, John Rhys-Davies, Paul McGann and all of the Boba Fet Actors. 

   What does your star level have to be before your passion for your fans fades. I have been to a few conventions and the difference in "I am here for my Fans" versus "I am here because I am paid" are becoming more and more apparent. 

  I single out Paul McGann because his attitude this weekend was amazing. He has only been in a movie for the DW series and as I have been told he is the last of the classic doctors. His popularity this past weekend was massive. Each one of his fans left with smiles of bliss and geekiness. Not to say there were not other actors and actresses who were awesome. I shout out John Rhys-Davies who, at the end of his photo line, pulled Hazel and I for Photos with him. While Mr.McGann sat in between photo sets, he told a very interesting story of how his role in DW has impacted him and placed a large responsibility on his shoulders. A responsibility that he welcomes. A powerful line he said was that "He would not be here if it was not for his fans." To hear him say this and then see him interact with each one of his fans was an awesome experience. He was by far the best of the weekend. Its one thing to say it but to actually show it in action with emotion is a something else. 

  His stellar attitude and cheerfulness has made me want to check out the DW series. Which I will be starting tonight. I wish other stars shared his attitude. I get it, I know some fans are crazy and can be overbearing, but you’re at a comic book convention for the fans. A place they can have access to you. That was my impression, but I could be wrong. If you’re not going to interact with the fans, then why be there? Now there are stars who are more popular that may share in Mr. McGann's attitude. I am not saying they don't exist, but there seems to be stars who are just there due to a pay check.           

   Another stand out bunch is the entire cast of Being Human. They took close to 100 pictures at Fandom Fest. Instead of just standing there and smiling, they came up with a different scene for each one of their fans, so all the pictures were original (yes all pictures). They then took the digitals of each picture to create a future coffee book for the fans. 

   This does not just happen with stars, but also comic artist as well. (If you notice I have not named the culprits, and I will not). I met one of my long time favorite artist a few years back. I approached him to talk to him just to say thanks, I love your work and you have inspired me as an artist. As I spoke he said nothing his head was down, drawing a comic image. I began to speak again and his wife spoke for him. She stated that she would be speaking if I needed anything. I said "Great, I need to talk to him please." She turned me down stating "He does not talk until 1:30pm where you can pay for the pic, and autograph." "I just wanted to say what an inspiration he was to me as an artist but thanks for changing my mind." The artist did not budge while his wife and I had this exchange. I notice people complain about comic artist not making money at conventions but with some having attitudes (not all) like this, who wants to talk to you.

   The comic convention is a place where we can talk to the people we adore and love as idols in our world. The one place originally where the geek is celebrated and allowed in public. Sadly I think with geek becoming the new way of life, the commercialization of it is taking away the genuine love for a lot of creators and stars. 

    If you stay at home only leaving to go to set, I get it you are not a people person. If you are attending comic conventions and participating in photo opts or meet and greets, then you should look like you enjoy it. It may be a fleeting moment to you, but to the fan that pays that $50-$100 ticket on top of a weekend pass to see you; its what they have been wanting for a very long time. Five minutes of you doing what you are getting paid to do goes a long way. I mean you’re an actor right? So can't you act like you’re having a good time? You never know who that one person you turn away may be or does to your future. What are your thoughts? While you think, take a look at this pic from the Sci Fi Photo Guys(check them out online and facebook they do great work). I believe it sums up what comic con should be.

Article by FS of The Stuff

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Get your facts right with Delta Force

Some Delta Force Facts:
1. All Delta Force operatives have a magazine of kryptonite tipped rounds.
2. Chuck Norris is bitter he couldn't make Delta Force.
3. Batman was booted from Delta Force due to his lack of preparation.
4. Delta Force can tell Lelouch no.
5. Every member of Delta Force has their name written in the Death Note daily throughout their service.
6. Delta Force knows the locations of every missing sock.
7. Delta Force can make change for a penny.
8. Delta Force carried out the operation that removed all the funny jokes from Big Bang Theory.
9. Delta Force ding dong ditch Dr. Doom.
10. Delta Force made Galactus try Adkins.
11. When Delta Force goes out for Mexican food, they get free Guac.
12. Delta Force wins debates against fanboys.
13. Delta Force can prove it happened without pics.
14. Delta Force can cite Wikipedia.
15. Every member of Delta Force has a set of the Dragonballs.
16. Morgan Freeman used to be a member of Delta Force, but his voice became to gravely.
17. Delta Force knows who would win in a fight between Darkseid and Thanos.
18. Goku failed the H2H test of delta recruitment... Twice.
19. Every new recruit in Delta Force must clean the toilets wearing a pair of Infinity Gauntlets instead of rubber gloves.
20. Delta Force have the Blade of Olympus as standard issue.
21. Liam Neeson trained Batman and Qui-Gon Jin, is king of the Greek gods, saved the Jews, led the A-Team and was the father to the protagonist of Fallout 3. Liam Neeson almost made the cut for Delta Force.
22. Delta Force invented Tesla and Edison.
23. Delta Force cans the Whoop-Ass.
24. Delta Force felt bad about beating the Flash in a race; even though they gave him a head start.
25. Delta Force is the reason our planet rotates on a tilted axis.
26. All those craters in the Moon? Delta Force EOD training.
27. Jedi wish to be one with the Force, the Force wishes to be one with the Delta Force.
28. Delta Force can teach Bart Simpson math.
29. Lobo and Wolverine were booted from Delta Force when the failed to heal fast enough.
30. Delta Force killed Deadpool.
31. Delta Force won the console war.
32. Delta Force could kill the Metal, they just don't want to.
33. Delta Force made Kristen Stewart show emotion.
34. Delta Force can eat just one Lays potato chip.
35. Reed Richards and Victor Von Doom cheated off of Delta Force in Highschool.
36. Delta Force never activates anyone's trap card.
37. It was actually Delta Force that killed the Radio Star.
38. Wolverine will meet Delta Force one more time... In issue #4 of Death of Wolverine.
39. A fouls ball caught by a member of Delta Force is considered a Home Run.
40. MacGuyver can complete his mission with a stick of gum, a paper clip and tape. He was chastised by Delta Force for using so much unnecessary material.
41. Delta Force would weight train with Mjolnir, if it wasn't so damn light.
42. Delta Force is the real meaning of life.
43. The virus uploaded in the movie Independence Day was actually just pictures of Delta Force flexing.
44. The Supreme Court's deliberation time is actually used to call and get advice from Delta Force.
45. Delta Force have scissors that cut rocks, paper that break scissors and rocks that can never be covered.
46. There were plans of a Delta Force edition of Monster Hunter. The first attempt had you acting as a member of Delta Force hunting such game enemies and monsters as a hybrid Godzilla, all the Weapons from FF7, Galactus, and other world enders. The second attempt saw you as a hunter with access to the Infinity Gauntlet, Mjolnir, The Bat-belt, Shazam's lightning, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagan and other artifacts while you hunt a single member of Delta force. The first attempt was regarded as far too easy even on nightmare difficulty, while the. Second attempt was considered impossible even by code hacking.
47. Only Delta Force can solo Delta Force.
48. Delta Force can change the tires on Tanks.
49. Luke actually fired a member of Delta Force down the Death Star's exhaust port.
50. Delta Force let these feats slip because they weren't impressive enough to keep quiet.


Aaron Helfer  of The Stuff

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Monday, September 15, 2014

You can only be the Best for so long

Logan this is very hard for me, saying goodbye. I mean I know your gonna come back in year maybe two years tops. So it really is not goodbye more so than see you later. You and I have been through so much.From the adamantium being ripped from outta you, to one handed killing machine, brain washing and attacking the marvel universe, being death and now finally death comes for the best there is. Sixth grade, I was 11 years old and I knew one thing for sure I hated comics, they made no sense to me. I did not see why people liked them so much. Those were the words that came out of my mouth to my friend Tom. his jaw dropped. He literally said we cannot be friends until I read X-Men, he said there was no way I could read that I still feel the same way about comics. He bugged me all day, I said ok. He brought them in the next day, a stack full of X-men, classic Blue and Gold. I had no idea what I was in for. At home in my bed reading X-Men #17. Blue Squad Cyclops, Psylocke, Beast, Jubilee, Gambit/Rouge(not in this issue) and Wolverine. Colossus is in this one too as a guest star, they are trying to fight off Omega Red. First impressions Wolvie is the shortest hero I have ever seen. He is smaller than everyone and all he has is claws. I mean the X-Men are pretty imposing just looking at them and judging a book by its cover and Omega Red is handing it to them. They are going down like flies except one hairy mutant. He just keeps getting up no matter how hard he gets knocked down(thanks to a mutant healing factor). I was in awe of this. I mean we were the same height, he really didn't have any powers like the other X-Men, he was a scrapper. I loved it. I have loved it ever since then. Despite all the good and the bad.Some of my favorite moments are when Wolverine is pushed beyond all limits. Some stories really stick out like Wolverine VS Sabertooth issue #90 the one they sold tickets too. The painful issue when he had the adamantium ripped out of his body by Magneto. Wolverine agent of Hydra, and my favorite Old Man Logan. I hated when they took his metal and he was rolling around with bone claws. It drove me crazy but when I think about it those were some of the best stories. Taking him to his lowest and having him claw his way back to the top.
Logan has been to so many places he has taken on the Hulk and almost killed him. Chose to become Death the Horseman of Apocalypse because he knew he should fight past the brain washing. I was a bit of a scrapper in high school. Looking back on those fights I got into(not that I recommend it)I had wolverine with me. His mentality, anger and will to win despite the opponents size, or skill. Maybe corny but he has greatly affected my life. I am drawing and into comics because of him. My daughter is named after him. Now after going down memory lane with my favorite character I am now reading "The Death of Wolverine" Now my only and biggest gripe with this is the fact that they have announced his Death. They took my experience away from me. I would have loved to read this as a special edition and been caught off guard by them killing him. I wanted to read the story and have the fear of not knowing what would happen to the best there is. Once you get past that the first issue is pretty damn awesome. They have managed to bring back a wolverine I have missed and did not even realize it. They brought the bad ass back. The reason I fell in love with this character. In the first issue of this story it has the makings and all the beats of X-Men 17, I was 11 all over again. It was so important my friend Victor stayed on the phone while I read the issue
This is probably one of the most annoying things about Wolverine and other characters. Why can he be written so well in one series but like ass in another. I mean I know it is hard to write this well consistently amongst other writers doing all types of things with the character but shouldn't that mean we should not over saturate the character? Its a double edged sword then right? The character is loved and wanted so put him in all we can, but we also have these special issues written and drawn by mega talent who create amazing stories. They get to write this way because of all the crap that is already out there. If a creative team was allowed to be on a book for longer than 4-6 issues we would get the best comics around. Example and case in point Invincible. Same creative team for a 100 issues. I know it is a different medium but what Marvel does on their cinematic universe needs to be applied to their comics. So I can say I am enjoying this it will be interesting to see what they or how they deal with his absence in the marvel universe. Comparative to the death of Superman this death will have the same ripple of effect on the Marvel universe. next week I will not take so long to look at issue 2 and 3 lol. You have to understand this is hard for me.....
Death of Wolverine #1 5 out of 5 Stuffs Death of Wolverine #2 3.5 out of 5 Stuffs

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Nostalgia in gaming.

Ask any gamer alive what their favorite game is and nine times out of ten it'll be one from our childhood. My answer would be no different. How many times have you heard or even have said that kids these day play garbage compared to what we had growing up? Because of this, the constant debate rages in the gaming community that the games from our childhood are far better than the ones that are released today. The problem with this argument is there are too many variables for this to be a fair debate. You can not compare anything from a  tech standpoint because of the limitations allowed at the time in the hardware.  Even comparing music and story would be a tough argument due to limitations of file sizes. Where does nostalgia come into play and how much was looking at the game through the eyes of a child versus the more refined (cynical) eyes of an adult? With that said this entire debate is still apples and oranges but lets throw some fuel into the fire anyway. 


"Lufia and the Fortress of Doom" for the snes is my absolute favorite game of all time and it is one I have never even finished. But before we start the argument let me shine some light on my personal history with the game.  I first discovered this game at my local video rental place. I had it for three days and immediately fell in love. The music, the combat system, the story, and even the graphics. Obviously I could not finish a turned based rpg in that short amount of time, so alas it was returned unbeaten.  I rented it as often as I could for months always hoping that my save file was still intact. Sometimes yes more often than not it was gone. Being a kid with a game you are absolutely obsessed with this was no big deal. Start again and memorize every inch of it. My mom even printed off an all text walk through for me. My fondest memory of the game came from a week where my parents were out of town and my grandmother was watching me. They gave her the money so she could rent it for me and the best part she sat and watched me play it asking me questions and being genuinely engaged.

Now that brings us to the argument. Is this my favorite game because of the memories I have associated with it? Is it because it was my obsession for so long when I was still so green to games? Is it because the game stands up to the test of time and is one of the best games of all time?  I chuckle to myself full well knowing it is not that last one. At release it received mixed reviews being compared to Secret of Mana or Final Fantasy. Even more recent reviews are still mixed between enduring characters and story versus being referred to as average or boring. So now this brings into question if I had played more rpgs or even more games before this would I feel the same about it? As we experience life and everything that it has to offer do we slowly and unconsciously raise the bar without us even realizing it?

Don't get me wrong, there a many current day series that I absolutely love. But time and again nothing has managed to bump my number one spot. So where do you stand? And why do you feel that way?

William