Week in Geek: Andrew plays Talisman on his iPad while Dan is embroiled in the middle of a Hayao Miyazaki movie marathon.

Sentinels of the Multiverse: Andrew, along with Nicole and Luke from AcrossTheBoardGames.net and mutual friend, Alex, to play a customized game of the card game that has captured Andrew's interest for the last few months. Read Luke and Nicole's writeup about this session.

Footballers of Catan: With the recent revelation that a group of Green Bay Packers players regularly play Settlers of Catan, Dan and Andrew ponder the possible mainstreaming of these previously not mainstream games.

Cones of Dumbshire: A Catan-like fake-game created for an episode of Parks and Recreation is now being Kickstarted for an absurd (?) amount. Andrew and Dan briefly examine the ups and downs of this young Kickstarter.

Question of the Geek:

What digitized tabletop game have you enjoyed playing (regardless of platform)?

Leave your answer as a comment on the page for this episode at forall.libsyn.com. If you haven't already, you should also join in the conversations going on at the official Facebook and Google+ pages. You may also email us with any comments, questions, or concerns at forallpod [at] gmail [dot] com.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

Featured Music:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"The Incredits" by Michael Giacchino (from The Incredibles)

-"Yakety Sax" by Boots Randolph

-"Main Title March" by John Williams (from Superman: The Movie)

-"Parks and Recreation Theme" by Gaby Moreno and Vincent Jones

-"Song from M*A*SH (Suicide is Painless)" by Johnny Mandel

If you're under 21, you will get carded before you are able to enjoy Episode 33 of For All Intents and Purposes because this week is all about booze, but with a nerdy/geeky focus, of course.

Week in Geek: Andrew plays the pepper-based tabletop game, Scoville, while Dan dives into the Paleolithic with Simon Roy's Tiger Lung.

Beer Bad: To discuss the threat of alcohol, Dan and Andrew put themselves through the trial of watching the infamous episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer where they try to write a show with an anti-alcohol message, but goes completely awry.

Discussion: Andrew and Dan look into the intersection of nerds and booze, bouncing around between the topics of licensed beers, specialty beers, microbrew, and the rise of nerd bars/gaming bars.

Boston Legal: Since the episode is all about booze, why not talk about a...cancelled legal dramedy starring Captain Kirk and Ultron? Sure!

Question of the Geek:

What's your preferred alcoholic beverage for your nerdy pursuits (or your pursuits in general)?

Leave your answers as a comment at our website, forall.libsyn.com. You may also leave your answers--or join in on the conversations--at the official Facebook and Google+ pages. Or you may email any comments, questions, or concerns to forallpod [at] gmail [dot] com.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

Featured Music:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"Beer, Beer, Beer" by Rob Manuel ft. Daniele Davoli

-"Where Everybody Knows Your Name" by Gary Portnoy

-"Boston Legal Theme" by Danny Lux

-"Scarface (Push It to the Limit)" by Paul Engemann

Episode 32 is a love-letter to Marvel. Anything, at least, to keep Dan's mind off of his recent surgery and all the interesting impediment that entails.

Week in Geek: Andrew plays more Sentinels of the Multiverse by checking out their recent expansion, Wrath of the Cosmos while Dan plays a four year-old game, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. 

The Master of Magnetism: Continuing from last year a focus on a specific pop culture villain, this week Dan and Andrew discuss the long-time foe (and ally and member) of the X-Men, Magneto, and why his very existence may be in danger.

Agent of Carter: Andrew and Dan have both seen Marvel's mid-season replacement show, Agent Carter, and ruminate on a simple question––Why Agent Carter? Their answers may surprise you.

Age of Ultron: Dan and Andrew give you their thoughts on the effectiveness of the new trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Question of the Geek:

What are your thoughts about Agent Carter, and/or Marvel's current plans for the MCU?

Leave your answers as a comment on the page for this episode at forall.libsyn.com. You can also leave your answers, or join in on the conversations, at our official Facebook and/or Google+ pages. Or you can e-mail us any comments, questions, or concerns at forallpod [at] gmail [dot] com

The boys are back for 2015 with a full-length episode, and they get right back into the swing of things:

Week in Geek: Both Andrew and Dan seem to be really into television at the start of the year, with Andrew watching the new John Rodgers-helmed TNT series, The Librarians, and Dan re-watching (for the umpteenth time) Futurama.

Andrew Objects: Andrew looks into a specific bit of information from the Sony hacks and discusses the controversy around the possible choice of successors for Daniel Craig's James Bond.

Discussion: Based on a highly-veritable article from England's The Daily Mirror, Dan and Andrew ask, "Has Doctor Who lost its way?"

Boast of Bethel: As mentioned last year, Dan is a fan of the band, Dawnbringer. With this Boast, he discusses how one of their albums, Nucleus, helped him create the first chapter of his webcomic, Long John.

Question of the Geek:

What nerdy/geeky thing/event are you most looking forward to in 2015? Why?

Feel free to leave your answer––along with any other comments––at the page for this episode at forall.libsyn.com. You can also leave your answer, as well as join in on any of the conversations, at the official Facebook and Google+ pages. You may also send any questions, comments, or concerns to the podcast's email address: forallpod [at] gmail.com.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

Featured Music:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"Miles Edgeworth––Objection! 2011" by Noriyuki Iwadere (from Ace Attorney 2 Orchestra Arrangement)

For All Intents and Purposes is back with another Shortcast episode! Much like last week, Dan and Andrew discuss their respective weeks in geek. Specifically, Andrew plays a delightful board game that is basically a re-skin of a good board game, while Dan reads a comic and also buys a game he has bought before, but this time for his phone.

What was your week in geek like? Leave your answers as comments to the page for this Shortcast at forall.libsyn.com. You can also leave your answer––or join the conversations!––at the official Facebook and/or Google+ pages. You may also e-mail any questions, comments, or concerns to forallpod [at] gmail.com.

For all intents and purposes, that was a Shortcast recap.

Featured Music:

-"Thunderbustin'" by Wax Audio

This week's first Shortcast is an interview Andrew conducted with André La Roche, a writer for tabletop RPGs.

They discuss André's involvement writing for the Dragonlance setting, his recent work for Fate Core, and his feelings about modern RPGs (specifically Fate Core). 

Come back on Friday for another Shortcast!

For all intents and purposes, that was a Shortcast recap.

Featured Music:

-"Anvil of Crom" by Basil Poledouris (from the soundtrack to Conan The Barbarian (1982). 

"Riders of Doom" by Basil Poledouris (from the soundtrack to Conan The Barbarian (1982).

Continuing the Shortcast releases, Dan and Andrew discuss their respective weeks in geek for their second update this week.

Andrew spends money on the Steam holiday sale, playing DLC Quest and Endless Legend, while Dan discusses listening to other podcasts; specifically, Top Score a public-radio show about video game music hosted by Emily Reese.

What was your week in geek like? Leave your comments at the post for this page at forall.libsyn.com. Or leave your comments or join the conversations at our official Facebook and/or Google+ pages. You may also e-mail us at forallpod at gmail.com.

Come back next week for some more Shortcasts!

For all intents and purposes, that was a shortcast recap.

Since we're starting off the winter break, we're releasing the first of our "shortcasts" that will fill the void until new full episodes return after the new year.

This short, a Boast of Bethel, continues the interview Dan had with friend, painter, and comic collaborator, Josh Tobey.

If you want to see more of Josh's work, be sure to like his official fan page on Facebook.

To read his collaboration on Dan's comic, start here.

Come back Friday for another shortcast!

For all intents and purposes, that was a shortcast recap.

It's the last full episode for 2014 and, boy, it's quite a show this week.

Week in Geek: Andrew reads the metafictional sci-fi novel, Redshirts, while Dan watches a movie nobody liked or saw...and liked it: Earth to Echo.

Boasts of Bethel: After having mentioned the Satoshi Kon manga, Opus, a few weeks ago, Dan discusses its meta-fictional qualities and how it both helps and hinders the comic.

Discussion: Sony Pictures was hacked by a mysterious, overseas group that exposed a bunch of previously classified documents. But what is the purpose––and what is the fallout––of this latest hacking endeavor?

World-Building & Storytelling: Based on a divisive article published by the Telegraph, Dan and Andrew launch into what seems to be the never-ending debate between what's most important in fantasy and/or sci-fi fiction: a highly-realized world or the stories that are told in that world?

As mentioned above, this is the last regular show for the year; however, small updates will be released from now through the new year, so you won't be without your beloved For All Intents and Purposes for long. 

Continue to feel free to leave comments at the page for this episode at forall.libsyn.com. Or do the same (and join in on the conversations) at the official Facebook and/or Google+ pages. You may also e-mail the show at forallpod@gmail.com

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

Featured Music:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"Misty Mountains" by Howard Shore (from the soundtrack to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey)

-"So Long Blues" by Ray Bonneville

This week brings the longest episode yet! That's only because it's full of so much great content! This week, the roundtable discusses military fiction, in any form, and it takes some thoughtful, and unexpected, turns.

Week in Geek: Andrew continues his reading streak with Ready Player One by Ernest Cline while Dan is impressed with the Disney revisionist fairy tale, Maleficent.

Interview: Dan sits down with the host of The Science Fiction Show (a great podcast to which you all should listen), Jason Tudor, as they discuss--among other things--military science fiction.

Discussion: Continuing the subject, Andrew and Dan specifically discuss the military's involvement in entertainment media throughout the years, how it has changed, and what it means for nerds and geeks.

Andrew Objects: Andrew cuts in to discuss how some aspects of Crimson Tide are, well, objectionable.

Question of the Geek:

What is your favorite winter and/or holiday fiction?

Leave your answers as comments on the page for this episode at forall.libsyn.com. Or you can join the discussion at either our official Facebook or Google+ pages. You can also e-mail any answers, along with all questions and/or concerns, to forallpod@gmail.com

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

Featured Music:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"There's Something in Here (Theme for The Science Fiction Show)" by Aaron Kusterer

-"Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins (from the soundtrack to Top Gun)

-"Hymn to Red October (Main Theme)" by Basil Paledouris (from the soundtrack to Hunt for Red October)

-"Godot - Fragrance of Dark Coffee" from Gyakuten Saiban meets Orchestra (artist unknown)

Apparently one of the possible intents and purposes of For All Intents and Purposes is to be socially conscious! With that in mind, they focus this week on discussion––for the most part––socially conscious gaming.

Week in Geek: Andrew plays the indie hit, Papers, Please, while Dan reads the manga, Opus, by the late, great anime director, Satoshi Kon.

The Teaser Awakens: An 88-second teaser trailer for J. J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit the internet this week and, because everybody was talking about it, Dan and Andrew thought it'd be smart to talk about it, too!

Discussion: Spurred by the not-so-subtle commentary found in Papers, Please, Andrew and Dan decide to take a look at socially-conscious gaming in general, though they mostly discuss video games––everything from Red Dead Redemption to Brenda Romero's experiential tabletop game, Train.

Metal Gear Lecture: With the idea of socially-conscious games on the brain, we discuss the strange place that the PS1 classic, Metal Gear Solid, occupies along that continuum.

Question of the Geek:

What is your favorite work of military-themed fiction?

You may leave your answers or any other comments at the page for this episode found at forall.libsyn.com. You may also leave your answers or join the discussions found at the official Facebook or Google+ pages. You may email your comments, questions, or concerns to forallpod@gmail.com.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

Featured Music:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"A Galaxy Divided" by Kevin Kiner (from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, based on original music by John Williams)

-"Cantina Band #2" by John Williams (from Star Wars: A New Hope)

-"You Dropped the Bomb on Me" by The Gap Band

-"Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" by Ian Dury and the Blockheads

To celebrate the week of giving thanks, Andrew and Dan decide to delve into the pits of despair and discuss the world of post-apocalyptic fiction.

Week in Geek: Andrew plays Rogue Legacy while Dan reads a book titled, Console Wars.

Mild Nepotism: Dan interviews his Josh Tobey, an old friend and painter whom Dan was able to recruit to draw a short story for his webcomic, Long John. In this segment, they discuss Josh's approach to art in general––his process and his theory.

Discussion: What better way to be thankful for what you have by engaging in fiction that emphasizes what you don't have––welcome to the Post-Apocalypse. Please leave your humanity at the door.

Fantasy Post-Apocalypse: In which Dan and Andrew look at this interesting and increasingly populr sub-genre of the Post-Apocalyptic framework that examines what happens when worlds that don't exist end.

Question of the Geek:

What do you consider to be a Thanksgiving movie? Why?

You can comment on the page for this episdoe at forall.libsyn.com. You are also encouraged to join our official Facebook and Google+ groups at their respective pages to leave comments or engage in conversations with fellow fans. You may also e-mail any comments, questions, or concerns to forallpod@gmail.com

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

Featured Music:

-"Stayin' In Black" by Wax Audio

-"Control" by Broken Bells

-"Dolls' Polyphony" by Geinoh Yamashirogumi (from Akira)

-"The Final Countdown" by Europe

-"The Wild West" by Nobuo Uematsu (from Final Fantasy VI)

Things seems lightly off in this alternate/parallel reality-themed episode. However, the show must go on, evil goatee or not.

Week in Geek: Andrew peruses the lesser Star Wars movies for trivia and finds some newly poignant scenes while Dan plays Shovel Knight on his WiiU and Terra Battle on his phone.

Original the Series: Taking another look into the original Star Trek series, this week Dan and Andrew watch the classic episode, "Mirror, Mirror," to great effect. Goatees and gold sashes!

Discussion: Having watched "Mirror, Mirror," the idea of parallel or alternate realities, as they're presented in various fictions, seemed to be the right avenue for discussion this week, and they certainly go all over the place.

Breaking News: With this week's announcement of popular American tabletop game designers, Fantasy Flight Games, merging with major European tabletop distributor, Amogee, Dan asks the podcast's resident tabletop guru what this means for tabletop fans.

Question of the Geek:

What is your favorite use of alternate reality in a story?

Leave your answer as a comment for this episode's page at forall.libsyn.com. You can also leave a comment and join in on the discussion with other fans at the podcast's offical Facebook and Google+ pages. You may also send an e-mail to forallpod@gmail.com

For all intents and purposes, that's an episode recap.

Featured Music:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"Old Metal Gear" by Starry.K (from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater)

-"Beat It" by Pomplamoose

-"Just Dropped In (to See What Condition My Condition Was In)" by Children of Bodom

For All Intents and Purposes has hit the quarter-centennial mark! That is, if by "centennial" we mean a hundred episodes rather than a hundred years. However, is it going to be a celebration...or a crisis?! To find out, you'll have to listen! Do you dare?!

Week in Geek: Andrew watches more Star Wars: Rebels while Dan buys his first Nintendo home console in what is likely over two decades.

Star Trek: Taking another dip into the Original Series, this time Dan and Andrew watch and discuss the classic "I, Mudd" featuring everybody's favorite scallywag, Harcourt Fenton Mudd.

Discussion: As if it's a big surprise, with Series 8 of Doctor Who––the first featuring Peter Capaldi's 12th Doctor––having come to an end, they discuss not only the final episode (SPOILER ALERT), but Series 8 as a whole and its place in the oeuvre of Doctor Who.

The Art of the Season Finale: With the closing of Doctor Who in mind, Andrew and Dan discuss season finales in general. Specifically, they discuss what they are and what they have been and how and why they've changed over time.

Question of the Geek:

What is your favorite season finale to a television show?

You can leave your answer as a comment to the page for this episode at forall.libsyn.com. You can also leave answers and comments about the show, as well as get exclusive links, images, and conversations, by joining the official Facebook and Google+ pages (just do a search on those respective websites and they should pop up right away). You may also e-mail the show at forallpod@gmail.com.

If you like the show and subscribe to it on iTunes, then be sure to leave a review! Doing so will help spread the word about the show and get it into the ears of new listeners.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

It's the first post-October episode. Instead of focusing on a month of thanks, it's just business as usual.

Week in Geek: Andrew plays some more Civilization: Beyond Earth and also finally gets his mitts on a copy of Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS. Dan, on the other hand, talks about the new album from his newest favorite band, Dawnbringer, called Night of the Hammer. \m/

30 Years of Busting Ghosts: As children of the '80s, Dan and Andrew decide that this is as good a time as any to discuss why Ghostbusters is still so amazing.

Ladies Second?: Speaking of Ghostbusters, with the recent announcement of a likely all-female reboot of Ghostbusters––as well as the troubled all-female Expendables spinoff, The Expendabelles––Andrew and Dan discuss this very interesting version of the reboot––recasting nerdy franchises with a completely female cast. They discuss the pros and cons and the possibilities as well as any pitfalls that could come with such decisions.

The Master and The Mistress: As Series 8 of Doctor Who draws to a close, Dan and Andrew discuss one of the Doctor's most famous and notorious adversaries––The Master! Consider this discussion a primer for all things Master, just in case you need it.

Question of the Geek:

Who is your favorite villain, in any medium?

Submit your answers to the page for this episode at forall.libsyn.com. Be sure to also join our official Facebook and Google+ pages at their respective sites (a quick search should find them quickly). You can also send comments, suggestions, and concerns as an e-mail at forallpod@gmail.com.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

Music From This Episode:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker, Jr.

-"Main Title Theme (Ghostbusters)" by Elmer Bernstein

-"I am the Doctor" by Jon Pertwee

-"Master of Puppets" by The Scorched Earth Orchestra

And with Episode 23 (on Halloween, no less) we bring the month of horror to a close, in a way that only For All Intents and Purposes can.

Week in Geek: Andrew played Civilization: Beyond Earth while Dan talks about his comic but also watched Shadow of the Vampire in honor of the Halloween episode.

The Dead That Started It All: In celebration of the scariest month of the year, Dan and Andrew decided to sit down and watch the original 1968 George Romero classic, Night of the Living Dead, and they were really impressed for being the movie that basically established the genre.

Love the Craft: Dan gave Andrew homework to read what he feels is one of Lovecraft's creepier stories, "The Thing on the Doorstep."

Boasts of Bethel: The Boasts return with a rather serious contemplation of monsters both real and imaginary and how they seem to be much closer than we thought, given recent events among nerds and geeks.

Question of the Week: Since Halloween is over, they leave the horror behind and, instead, jump onto another favorite topic of theirs.

With DC and Marvel making all kinds of announcements all over the place, is there some superhero product (game, book, movie, music, etc.)––that doesn't necessarily have to do with the Big Two––that you feel deserves more attention?

Leave a comment on the page for this episode at forall.libsyn.com. Be sure to join the official Facebook and Google+ pages for the podcast for regular links and between-podcast discussions. You can get ahold of us at forallpod@gmail.com. Be sure to not only subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, but leave a review (if you like it) to help spread the word!

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

Featured Music:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"March of the Dead" by Danny Elfman (from The Army of Darkness)

-"Journey into Darkness" by Steve Henefin (from Eternal Darkness)

-"Death in the Darkness" by Jeremy Soule (from Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)

-"Thriller" by Michael Jackson

It's a week before Halloween and For All Intents and Purposes does its best to help you keep your wits about you.

Week in Geek: Andrew does not buy a popular video game––which makes him sad––and Dan gets a shirt (that you should all buy at robinshirt.com) that makes everybody simultaneously happy and sad. Sorry for the feels.

I Know Those Notes: After thoroughly trashing a game this composer was involved with last week, Dan and Andrew spend a few minutes singing the praises of Nobuo Uematsu, speaking completely of his work with the Final Fantasy series.

Discussion: With the announcement and release of the Resident Evil HD and Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers remakes this week (respectively), Andrew and Dan discuss HD remakes, reboots, and all the good and bad about them.

In Space No One Can Hear You Podcast: Jumping back onto the Halloween bandwagon, Dan and Andrew discuss a seminal work of sci-fi horror, Ridley Scott's Alien.

Weekly Question: 

What horror fiction (any medium) do you feel is underrepresented?

Submit your answers to the page for this episode at forall.libsyn.com. While you're on the internet, be sure to go to Facebook or Google+ to search for and join their official Pages for the podcast. You can also get ahold of us at forallpod@gmail.com. 

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

Music Featured:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"The Lonely Man Theme" by Joe Harnell and performed by Dennis McCarthy

-"The Prelude" & "Terra's Theme" by Nobuo Uematsu (from Final Fantasy IV & Final Fantasy VI, respectively)

-"Alien (1979) - Main Theme" by Jerry Goldsmith

-"Main Titles (Gabriel's Theme)" by Robert Holmes (from Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers)

Kicking in the door of its third set of ten episodes but instead of blazing bold new trails, For All Intents and Purposes continues reveling in the fright and horror that comes with October.

Week in Geek:  Andrew watches new Star Wars television while Dan plays the full version of a game he has already talked about on the show. Dan also wrapped the first chapter of his western webcomic, Long John, this week, which means it'd be a great time to check it out (and to tell your friends about it if you like it)!

What's in a Villain: In a new segment, Dan and Andrew discuss the villainy of Beauty and the Beast's main antagonist, Gaston.

Discussion: Are supernatural monsters as scary now that we have a tendency to rationalize or––as Andrew and Dan say in the episode––"sciencificate" them into the realm of possibility? Why do we do that? What's the point? Can we stop?

What's in a Game: In a spinoff to the "video games people should play" segment, Dand and Andrew discuss a game that should be knocked off its pedestal in their estimation. This time, they discuss the much venerated Final Fantasy VII.

Question of the Week:

What is your favorite Halloween episode of a television show?

You may submit your answer to the page for this episode at forall.libsyn.com. Be sure to join the official For All Intents and Purposes Facebook and Google+ pages to submit comments, answers to the questions, and to get interesting and relevant links to cool nerdy stuff on the internet. You may also e-mail us at forallpod@gmail.com.

For all intents and purposes, that's an episode recap.

Music in this Episode:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"Gaston" by The Bad Plus

-"Some Kind of Monster" by Metallica

-"Fanfare" by Nobuo Uematsu (from Final Fantasy VI: Original Sound Version)

Hitting another arbitrary benchmark, Episode 20 is celebrated with another purported naked episode (no clothes were actually removed in the recording of this episode). To celebrate, they continue into October with another Halloween-themed episode throughout.

Week in Geek: Andrew finally gets around to watching latter-day X-Men movies (when they got good again). Dan bought a new Lovecraft book.

Alone in the Dork: Dan and Andrew discuss the scariest video games they've ever played.

Discussion: With a Kickstarter going touting to be the first "officially licensed" video game based on an H. P. Lovecraft story, Andrew and Dan wonder how that's even possible considering H. P. Lovecraft's works are well-known to be in the public domain.

Hail Hydra: In a bit of a detour, Dan and Andrew try to figure out what's so bad about Marvel's HYDRA organization.

Question of the Week:

What is your favorite expression (story/movie/video game/music/etc.) of cosmic horror?

Submit your answer as a comment on the post for this episode at forall.libsyn.com. You can also leave your comments, as well as keep up to date with relevant and interesting links and updates, by joining the official For All Intents and Purposes Facebook and Google+ groups. You may also get ahold of the podcast by e-mailing us at forallpod@gmail.com

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

Music in this Episode:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"Tunnel Chase" and "The Expedition (no SFX)" by Reber Clark

-"All Hail" by The Devil Makes Three

-"Doctor Gastronomy" by Murray Gold

In the interest of full disclosure, this episode is filled with the pop hits of yesteryear, so be warned. When not mining recent top 40 hits, Dan and Andrew slide into their usual avenues of nerdy and geeky conversation in episode 19.

Week in Geek: Andrew talks about the Kickstarting documentary, A Brief History of Time Travel, while Dan watches a documentar about voice acting, I Know That Voice.

Breaking News: With this week's announcement that a Tetris-based movie is going forward, Andrew regales Dan with this pitch for the flick.

Discussion: Fox recently announced that an extended "Rogue Cut" of X-Men: Days of Future Past will be released to home video––restoring footage not featured in the theatrical cut of the film––Dan and Andrew discuss the purpose, audience, and need of extended cuts/director's cuts of movies.

Conspiracy Corner: When Dan received a copy of the free "Marvel's 75th Celebration" magazine, he was surprised at the glaring omissions on the cover. Was it sly movie marketing or a case of bigotry (admittedly, against a fictional peoples)?

Question of the Week: Since October is now upon us, we turn our sights toward Halloween; so, even this early in the month, we ask:

What is your favorite genre of horror movie?

You can submit your answers on the page for this week's episode at forall.libsyn.com. Feel free to submit your answers to either (or both) our official Facebook or Google+ pages. You can also e-mail any questions, comments, or concerns to forallpod@gmail.com

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

Featured Music:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"Falling Blocks (the Trance)" and "Falling Blocks (the Funk)" by Prometheus Darkened

-"Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye

-"Born This Way" by Lady Gaga

It's been a good week for nerds, what with Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D starting its second season and Gotham premiering (and that's just on tv), so Andrew and Dan decided to bolster those good vibes in this new episode.

Week in Geek: Andrew paints miniatures for Shadows of Brimstone. Dan (with his wife) finishes his second watching of the Buffy and Angel run-through.

There Can Be Only One: In which Dan and Andrew puzzle over how the Highlander franchise has lasted so long and made so many bad (with a few very good) iterations of the premise.

Discussion: Zombies. 'Nuff said.

The Silent Hero: Continuing their coverage of geeky things that they feel deserve more attention, this week Andrew and Dan discuss their love for Squaresoft's (for it was not Square-Enix at the time) groundbreaking (and seemingly forgotten?) classic, Chrono Trigger.

Question: What fiction (tv/movie/game/book/story/etc.) has your most favorite iteration or use of time travel?

Answer in the comments to this episode's post at forall.libsyn.com. Or you may leave a comment after joining the offical For All Intents and Purposes pages at either Facebook or Google+ (do a search at each site to find it). You may also e-mail any comments or questions to forallpod@gmail.com.

For all intents and purposes, that's an episode recap.

Music:
-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"Princes of the Universe" by Queen

-"Robo's Theme" and "Frog's Theme" by Yasunori Mitsuda

Seventeen episodes in and For All Intents and Purposes continues to hone its stride with discussion about very recent news as well as larger topics of concern within the realm of nerds and geeks. Before we get started, we must mention here that, as of this episode, For All Intents and Purposes will be releasing on Fridays rather than Thursdays; adjust your schedule accordingly.

The Week in Geek: Dan reads a book about (and kind of by) Japanese animation guru, Hayao Miyazaki, titled Starting Point: 1979-1996. Andrew participates in Fantasy Flight's Star Wars: The Role-Playing Game event, "Rebellion Day." He also got back into playing Star Trek Online.

Breaking News: With the announcement that Microsoft purchased Minecraft studio, Mojang, for a lean $2.5 billion, Andrew and Dan examine what that means for Minecraft, what that means for Microsoft, and what that means for gaming in general.

Discussion: Despite continuously asking for comments, Dan and Andrew pick apart the phenomenon of internet commenting––specifically how it's often done under an assumed name, hinting at anonymity. But is it actually just a magnifying glass to a person's true nature? Is it a vestige of once-idealistic egalitarian goals? What does this have to do with Harry Potter?

Star Trek: In this new segment, Andrew assigned Dan to watch the Original Series episode, "The City on the Edge of Forever"––a veritable classic written by Harlan Ellison.

Question: After reviewing the previous week's listener answers, Dan and Andrew change gears completely to ask:

With the upcoming Netflix shows, the movies, and Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. about to start its second season, which Marvel property would you like to see added to the fold?

Comment on the page for this episode, which can be found at forall.libsyn.com. If you like the show but wish you could get more content per week, go ahead and "like" our official Facebook page and/or join our Google+ page where you'll be kept up to date with every episode as well as be fed interesting and/or relevant links, images, and discussions. You may e-mail any comments or questions to forallpod@gmail.com.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

Music:

-"Stayin' In Black" by Wax Audio

-"Money for Nothing" by Dire Straights

-"Star Trek (Original Series Main Title)" by Alexander Courage

-"Highly Illogical" by Leonard Nimoy

A new episode of For All Intents and Purposes is here in true episodic fashion! Though PAX may be done and no huge events seem to be around the corner, it's back to business as usual.

The Week in Geek: Andrew plays the Battlestar Galactica board game and actually keeps his friends this time, while Dan watches Academy Award-nominated animated short films––specifically, "Adam and Dog" by Minkyu Lee. Also, Dan will be an exhibitor at this year's Crocker-Con in Sacramento at the Crocker Art Museum. It happens on Thursday, 11 September, from 5-9pm. Be there! 

Boasts of Bethel: Close-reading the second episode of Doctor Who's 8th series, "Into the Dalek," Dan investigates the most prominent question on Whovians' minds: Is Clara actually a good English teacher?

Discussion: Since Dan started watching Supernatural this week, he remembers the good old days of episodic nerdy drama and he and Andrew ponder why so much television has become serialized and whether it has helped or hurt the medium.

Love the Craft: Andrew and Dan look at another story by H. P. Lovecraft. This time, it's one Andrew hasn't read before, an exciting, frightening, and...funny (?) short called, "The Hound."

Question: Hot off the presses of Apple's press conference and their announcement of the Apple Watch, Dan and Andrew wonder:

What are your thoughts on the rise of "smart", on-your-body peripherals for your phones?

Leave your answers on the page for this episode at forall.libsyn.com, or join and leave a comment at the For All Intents and Purposes Facebook and/or Google+ pages. You may also send us your answers, questions, or comments at forallpod@gmail.com 

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

It's time for PAX coverage with Dan and Andrew (mostly Andrew)! But before we get to PAX goodness, we must first get down to business.

Week in Geek: For All Intents and Purposes now has an official Facebook page and an official Google+ page! Join them for regular updates, links, and interesting discussion. Meanwhile, Dan watches a documentary about a movie that was never made––Jodorowsky's Dune––and, guess what, Andrew goes to PAX Prime.

Andrew Interviews: Andrew interviews Luke and Nicole from both Across The Board Games.net and Nerdy Seattle.com to talk about PAX! An intriguing interview spread across two parts that has them discuss everything from video games, to tabletop games, to diversity in gaming! The interview is broken up with:

Discussion: Andrew and Dan discuss a recent study that shows that 92% of PC games purchased this year were digital. They discuss this physical-media-less trend and what it means and its benefits and deficits.

Question: After discussing what they found most intriguing about this year's PAX Prime, they prance into a more light-hearted affair to ask:

What is a cartoon/animated show you feel deserves a second look?

Leave your responses and/or comments at this episode's post at forall.libsyn.com, or feel free to send your responses, comments, or inquiries to forallpod@gmail.com. Also, be sure to join our official Facebook and Google+ pages to stay up to date with updates, links to interesting articles and websites, and join in on the episode's discussion.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

Music from this Episode:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"Space Cruise (Title)" by Ben Prunty (from FTL: Faster Than Light (Official Soundtrack))

-"Into the Wilderness" by Michiko Naruke (from Wild Arms)

-"I Giorni Dell'ira (Days of Anger)" by Riz Ortolani (from Django Unchained)

-"You're the Best" by Joe Esposito (from The Karate Kid)

With a revived vigor, Dan and Andrew tackle one of the [relatively] biggest topics yet: Doctor Who. Not to worry, however, because they surround their Doctor Who talk with the usual thoughtful commentary about topics that For All Intents and Purposes envelops. 

Week in Geek: Andrew watches To Be Takei and Dan talks about working with an artist on Long John.

The Mass Effect Series: Another installment in their look at culturally and intellectually important video games, Dan and Andrew expand their breadth and discuss why the entire Mass Effect series is so important.

Discussion: As expected, Andrew and Dan watched the new episode of Doctor Who's Series 8, "Deep Breath", a bit too closely and have a lot of things to say about it, focusing on the 12th Doctor (as played by Peter Capaldi), its themes, and how it fits in to the show overall.

The Big Lebowski: Expanding their breadth even more, Dan and Andrew discuss a movie that they feel is culturally and intellectually important, hoping to expose an angle on the Coen Bros.' The Big Lebowski that you haven't really considered before.

Question: Much like Comic Con before it, another huge convention is about to happen––the Penny Arcade Expo, colloquially known as PAX (or PAX Prime). So, with that in mind we want to know,

What came out of PAX that got you excited and/or intrigued?

Since it hasn't happened yet, Andrew and Dan couldn't quite answer the question. However, we'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment at the post for this episode at forall.libsyn.com, or e-mail us at forallpod@gmail.com.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

Music from this episode:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"Saren" by Jack Wall (from Mass Effect: Original Soundtrack)

-"New Worlds" by Jack Wall (from Mass Effect 2)

-"Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition.

It's the thirteenth episode as Dan and Andrew do their best to avoid any and all calamity.  

Week in Geek:  Andrew plays the new Dungeons and Dragons to...interesting results. Dan bought a book about comics theory, Comics and Sequential Art by Will Eisner.

Boasts of Bethel: Dan discusses why he doesn't think the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Movie isn't a complete disaster.

Discussion: Now that they have both seen Guardians of the Galaxy, they discuss its impact within the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe and how the MCU could and/or should look from this point forward.

Andrew's Cross-Examination: Andrew interviews Seattle-based indie game designer, Kai Cambra about his interesting thoughts about game design.

Nerd Question: It's almost time for Peter Capaldi's Doctor to be revealed to the world; so, with that in mind, we ask:

With the coming of the 12th Doctor, who is your favorite Doctor and/or what is your favorite Doctor Who moment?

Answer in the comments to this episode's post at forall.libsyn.com. Or feel free to e-mail your answer––and any comments or questions about the show––to forallpod@gmail.com.

For all intents and purposes, that's an episode recap.

See you next week!

Andrew and Dan keep it interesting by presenting you a very special episode of A Podcast [ , ] For All Intents and Purposes.  With outside commitments preventing them from recording at their usual time, the format and structure of this episode present new and exciting ideas to your (14th!) favorite geeky and nerd discussion podcast. 

Week in Geek: Andrew buys new tabletop games––Caverna and Province––while Dan sees Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Andrew Interrogates:  Andrew sits down with Seattle tabletop guru, Jake Waltier, to discuss tabletop gaming, especially in the Seattle area.

[ , ] Original: Referencing a joke made at the end of episode 9, Dan wrote and recorded a folk rock original, "Cthulhu Clock."

Andrew Cross-Examines: Next, Andrew sits down with the founders of Across the Board Games.Net, Nicole Jekich and Luke Turpeinen.

Nerd Question: With the tabletop-heavy content this week, we ask you to tell us:

What is the tabletop game that is most intriguing and/or interesting to you right now?

Submit your answers or any questions as a comment to this episode's post at forall.libsyn.com.  You can also e-mail us at forallpod@gmail.com. 

For all intents and purposes, that's an episode recap.

Music from this Episode:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"Cthulhu Clock" by D. Bethel

-"Dinosaucers theme" by Shuki Levy and Haim Saban

Cthulhu Clock Lyrics

(written and recorded by D. Bethel)

On the road to Rhode Island to put my mind at ease,

A secluded cabin hideaway beneath the ocean's breeze.

It's just a place to settle down and rest my weary head,

and I would but for a strange cuckoo clock that was mounted above my bed.

Cthulhu clock, Cthulhu clock

It penetrates my mind.

Cthulhu clock, Cthulhu clock

I hear its ceaseless chime.

Its wretched screams are endless as they

ring out through my dreams.

And until I'm driven mad...it's not as bad as it seems.

At first, my mind was singing in the perfect solitude.

Finally, alone with all my thoughts in a bright and hopeful mood.

But as weeks wore on a creeping dread fell on me with the night

Because every hour that clock would sound filled with antediluvian fright.

Though my master remains sleeping, one day he will arise,

and amid a tenebrous cavalcade I'll gladly proselytize.

What are these thoughts surrounding me? I cannot look away.

With every toll another part of me begins to painfully fade away.

Cthulhu clock, Cthulhu clock,

I'm clawing at my eyes.

Cthulhu clock, Cthulhu clock,

All life I now despise.

My nerve-ends are exploding because 

I cannot understand:

Am I just a speck of dust in your giant, god-like hand?

With Episode 10 in the can, Andrew and Dan decide to mess with your minds with this exciting eleventh episode of For All Intents and Purposes.

Week in Geek:  Andrew starts making text adventures as Dan mourns the end of the Image Comics series, Prophet.

Love the Craft: The Lovecraft segment returns as Dan and Andrew dissect the invisible menace of "The Dunwich Horror."

Discussion:  With the avalanche of response to last week's question, Andre wand Dan decide to more fully investigate the topic of musical scores as they relate to film, video games, and television.

Andrew Objects: With movie scores in mind, Andrew objects to the Eric Serra-composed score for Pierce Brosnan's first outing as James Bond, Goldeneye.

Geek Thoughts:  This week, they keep up the musical themes by asking:

What is your favorite television theme and why?

Submit your answer––or any other comments or questions––as a comment to this episode's post at forall.libsyn.com. Or send us an e-mail at forallpod [at] gmail.com. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes and leave us a rating, especially if you enjoy the show! Leaving ratings will help spread the word!

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

Music from this episode:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"Miles Edgeworth––Objection! 2011" by Noriyuki Iwadere (from Ace Attorney 2 Orchestra Arrangement)

-"Ladies First" and "A Pleasant Drive in St. Petersburg" by Eric Serra (from the soundtrack to Goldeneye).

The podcast reaches an arbitrary milestone and our hosts celebrate in style!  They also make another podcast that falls into line with the standards set by the preceding episodes. 

The Week in Geek:  Andrew plays a video game card game based on an MMO as well as, in his words, "eating comic books."  Dan talks about his own comic, Long John.

Boasts of Bethel: Dan reminisces on his two experiences with ComicCon, and tries to figure out what the SDCC (as the REAL fans call it) is actually about.

Discussion: Since one of the biggest nerd gatherings happened this week in San Diego, Andrew and Dan decide to discuss it; but, more specifically, they try to answer the age old SDCC question: Who won––Marvel or DC?

Games That Matter: Dan and Andrew craft an argument as to why the Playstation 1 game, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, is super-important and should be on everybody's roster.

Geek Thoughts:  After finally answering last week's question, they go broad with this week's, asking:

What is a movie, tv, or video game soundtrack that you hold particularly dear and why?

Submit your answer as a comment on the episode's page at forall.libsyn.com, on Facebook, Google+, or Twitter (Dan and Andrew).  Also feel free to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and be sure to leave a comment there about how much you enjoy our thoughtful investigations into things geeky and nerdy! It'll help to spread the word! Also, feel free to e-mail us at forallpod@gmail.com. You'll be glad you did.

For all intents and purposes, that was the tenth episode recap!

Music from this Episode:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-Theme from WildC.A.T.s the Animated Series by Sheree Jeacocke and Gerry Mosby.

-"Dance of Illusions" from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night original soundtrack by Michiru Yamane

As is the case every week, when exciting news or developments happen in the nerdy & geeky world, Andrew and Dan are on top of it with sharp wits and minds.

The Week in Geek:  Andrew starts reading comics and Dan finshes video games while listening to the new Weird Al album.

Boasts of Bethel: Dan talks about the audience's role in completing that action that is "fiction."

Discussion: This week Dan and Andrew discuss the recent developments in the world of comic books––specifically, the new Thor and the new Captain America––and how the world would benefit more from these "legacy" characters.

Games that Matter: This time, Andrew and Dan go on about their love for all things Fallout 3.

Geek Thoughts: After discussing the answers to last week's questions. To that end, since I said I'd link to it, here is the historical recipes blog that commenter, Tracy Johnston, maintains, Goode Eates. This week our hosts ask a timely question:

What is exciting you or piquing your interest at this year's San Diego ComicCon?

Submit your answer as a comment at forall.libsyn.com, on Facebook, Google+, or on Twitter (Dan and Andrew).  Also, feel free to leave a review of the podcast on iTunes! Leaving reviews gets us more attention! Also, you can e-mail any questions, comments, or miscellanea to forallpod [at] gmail [dot] com.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

Music from the Episode:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"Get Used to It" by Darren Korb, from Bastion (Original Soundtrack)

-"I Dont' Want to Set the World on Fire" by The Ink Spots

-"The Rockford Files Theme" by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter

The world can't keep up with Dan and Andrew as they tear through all things geeky and nerdy.

The Week in Geek: Before getting into individual accomplishments, they discuss the recently released trailer for Doctor Who Series 8! Andrew then discusses his preparation for UnPub in Seattle, while Dan discusses about Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and the Veronica Mars movie.

Boasts of Bethel:  In this week's boast, Dan gets psychological and ponders the connection between nerds and ironic/meta-humor and asks whether it's a good thing or not. SPOILER: He has no answers.

Discussion:  Inspired by the satirical-cum-blindingly-successful Potato Salad Kickstarter that made the rounds in this week's news cycle, Dan and Andrew examine what, exactly, Kickstarter is, could be, and should be and how it has been a benefit or detriment to geek culture.

Andrew Objects: Hot on the heels of news that Marvel's Thor will now be a woman, Andrew decides to object to...those who object.

Geek Thoughts: Big thanks to Walter Phippeny, Liz Geisser, Jason Morgan, Ruben Hanson-Rojas, and Brittney Farrand for responding to last week's question! Your answers were insightful and fun to talk about.  However, we must keep moving forward, so we ask:

What is a nerdy/geeky thing you've been doing recently that you want more people to know about?

Leave a comment on the episode's post at forall.libsyn.com, or on either Andrew's or Dan's Facebook/Google+/Twitter posts (Dan's Twitter and Andrew's Twitter).  You can also leave a comment on iTunes or e-mail us at forallpod [at] gmail.com.

Until next week, for all intents and purposes, this is an episode breakdown. 

Even in the face of a near disastrous behind the scenes technical glitch, it turns out that Andrew and Dan can't be stopped.  Again, they bring you another outstanding episode that covers a straight-up plethora of topics, including:

Week in Geek:  Andrew plays the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game while Dan watches How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Looper and also finds time to play a few hours of Metal Gear Solid 3 in the wake of last week's episode.

Boasts of Bethel: This week, Dan ruminates on how animated films are marginalized by modern American society and wonders what we can do to move it forward.

Discussion:  Nintendo guru, Shigeru Miyamoto, makes a startlingly bold claim that video games are in a state of "creative immaturity."  Andrew and Dan discuss what this means and what it may take to get out of it.

Who Cares:  Going back to the well, they discuss not an episode or story but a villain! This time they venture into the mind of Davros, the creator of the Daleks.

Geek Thoughts:  After going over last week's very debated question, this week they ask:

What is a game/movie/tv show/comic/book/album/etc. that you feel helped move its medium forward?  Why and how?

Leave a comment on the episode's post at forall.libsyn.com, or on either Andrew's or Dan's Facebook/Google+/Twitter posts. You can also leave a comment on iTunes or e-mail us at forallpod [at] gmail.com

Until next week, for all intents and purposes, that was an episode breakdown.

Here's the fanart we received this week from listener Amir S. of Andrew playing in cardboard, from Episode 5. 

For all intents and purposes, thanks Amir!

The guys are back and push it to 11!  Because Dan lives in Sacramento, and it is summer, you'll hear his floor fan humming along throughout the episode––you've been warned! In a very energetic episode, Andrew and Dan discuss the following:

Week in Geek: Andrew continues to play X-Com, but not before also playing some 13th Age.  Dan plays the demo for Valiant Hearts and nearly cries while doing so.

Andrew Objects: Breaking into our regularly scheduled Boasts of Bethel, Andrew addresses the idea that your role-playing game is better (or worse) than anybody elses...and why that might be a problem.

Nerd Debate:  Dan sees Transformers: Age of Extinction which gets the guys to ponder the role of 80s nostalgia in popular culture. Then Dan tells Michael Bay how to make Transformers movies.

Games That Matter:  Andrew and Dan discuss the importance and impact of Konami's (more appropriately, Hideo Kojima's) Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

Last Call: After reviewing listener responses to last week's question, Dan and Andrew get into a semantic debate, which must be resolved by you:

Which term is most appropriate to describe our culture: nerd or geek (other?)? Why?

Leave a comment on the episode's post at forall.libsyn.com, or on either Dan or Andrew's Facebook/Google+/Twitter posts, leave a comment on iTunes, or email us at forallpod [at] gmail.com

Until next week, for all intents and purposes, this is an episode breakdown.

Comics are an inherently overlooked medium.  I don’t necessarily mean that in the sense of cultural appreciation––we have the multi-billion dollar Marvel cinematic universe to prove that isn’t true––I mean as a reader reading comics.  Being overlooked is the point, however.  A thoughtfully crafted page layout naturally guides the eye from one panel to the next, causing your brain to not even notice that the images are static and, perhaps, nonsensical when taken out of context.  Comics rely on the fact that a reader’s brain fills in the gaps between the panels––formally called gutters––with action and camera moves so that the next panel does make sense.  Part of that trick is to give the reader just enough information to get the gist and keep moving.  As you can guess, the artist can easily manipulate this to either slow down or speed up a reader, depending on what the story (or creator) demands.

As quickly as it takes to read a comic, the amount of work that goes into creating not only a book, not only a page, but a panel is painstaking (though, panel composition also involves a lot of instinct, too).  Think of it this way: in a movie, a filmmaker gets twenty-four frames per second to show the viewer a single shot.  Not to be patronizing, but that is, again, twenty-four still images in a single second of on-screen time.  That’s 1,440 still images per minute of film.  Furthermore, a shot in a movie can last a few seconds to a minute or two (or five or ten), which means thousands of still images could come together to show movement and progression of character and story.  A panel is pretty much (with exceptions, of course) the equivalent of a single shot in a film.  Again, not to patronize, but a panel is a single drawing.

What a comic artist has to do is pick the one image from the entire range of possibilities––a range that would normally be shown in film––and pick the exactly right one to do the same thing as an entire shot.  Of course, this isn’t a perfect science, but no matter the level of care or artistry, it is a thoughtful one.  No matter what, a comicker has to boil every panel down to a moment––one that best suits the goals of that panel as well as serves the needs of the page and also serves the needs of the book.  It’s a scary business if you think about it like that and expanding it to a page––trying to capture that perfect image between three and six times per page, sometimes more.  But most readers soar over panels, linking the actions and stories between them naturally and easily so that they see a fully fleshed out movie in their heads, full of foley, dialogue, and background music.  

Many comics readers are also artistically inclined and, in the age of easy and cheap internet access, it’s not uncommon for those people to try and make their own comics.  I think, however, that it’s this burden of a panel that stops many amateur or independent comics from finishing.  Some seem to stop right after they start because of the realization that each panel can’t just look cool.  Panels mean so much more than that; they involve much more thought than that.  Every artist, I believe, hits that wall when they realize that drawing a single panel is very hard work for something that they know and depend that the reader breeze right over.  If the average reader doesn’t take in a panel with a single glance, understand it, and move on, then it’s likely you’re doing it wrong, and that’s scary to accept.

I am, by no means, a professional comicker (I may not even be a good one), though I am a thoughtful one.  However, even that doesn’t mean I cheat when drawing a panel or get lazy every now and then and cook up a pose or angle I know will work or is simply easy to draw.  Most importantly, I know I’m still learning.  For some reason, I’ve decided to share that learning curve and its process with the world as my webcomic, Long John, hits the world-wide web.  

I have some confidence already––having gone through a lot of public growing pains for the six years I co-wrote and drew Eben07––but this time Long John is all me, standing up creatively for myself for the first time ever.  It’s a powerful moment, even if it ends up being a total disaster (which it won’t be––at worst it’ll be read by few readers: me and my mom).  Before this, I only created in partnerships with other talented friends.  But partnerships are ultimately temporary things as people grow and goals for creativity and life change.  Through all that, I’ve studied and learned through all the ups and downs, searching for the right moment to become the artist I want to be.  And that starts with Long John for all its strengths and flaws (of which it will have many).

However it may look, I’m not begging for readers or looking for sympathy because I think too hard about making comics or am having actualizing breakthroughs in my creative life.  All I want, with hope, is that you’ll just read each update and ask, “Where’s the next one?”––overlooking the fear, sweat, thought, and intention behind every line and between every panel.  Because that’s how comics are supposed to be.

With Dan running at about 60%, Andrew boldly steps up to the reins and wheels a new episode through to the finish line.  Under his masterly guidance, they competently discuss the following:

Week in Geek - Andrew plays X-Com again.  Dan plays Street Fighter IV for the first time.

Boasts of Bethel - Dan discusses thinking about making comics too hard.

Nerd Topics - Writer/director Rian Johnson was announced to helm episode 8 of Star Wars (and possibly episode 9), and with that news Dan and Andrew discuss the worlds of reboots and continuations and what it all means.

Who Cares (title still pending) - The guys discuss a Doctor Who event that is particularly near and dear to Andrew as he had to say goodbye to his Doctor in a particularly gruesome fashion.  They discuss Doctor Who: The Movie.

Closing Time - Before getting to the new nerdly question, fans' answers to last week's question are addressed.  But this week they ask:  

What nerd product/media do you feel represents or comments on its era? Why?

What is your answer to this question?  Leave a comment either at forall.libsyn.com, the posts on Facebook, or send an email at forallpod [at] gmail.com and your answers will be read on the next episode!

It's an exciting week!  For all intents and purposes, that's an episode recap.

We're proud to announce that D. Bethel's new western webcomic, Long John, officially goes live today. Though nothing truly exciting has happened yet in the comic (it's just setting the stage this week), TWO pages have gone up. So, start at the included link and click forward to see both pages. 

If you like what you see so far, be sure to go back Thursday for another page (regular updates will be Tuesdays and Thursdays) or subscribe to the RSS feed if you use a reader to get updates sent to you. The website is still a work in progress and if you have ideas, Dan will gladly consider them.

Otherwise, thank you for reading!

http://www.longjohncomic.com/comic/on-the-lake/

This week, Andrew and Dan return with a bevy of new and exciting topics, including:

-FTL

-Super-old Doctor Who episodes

-Long John, Dan's upcoming webcomic (June 24th at www.longjohncomic.com)

-Dan Boasts about adaptations!

-The boys discuss the return and legacy of adventure games.

-Then they talk about the greatest game ever made, Final Fantasy III/VI

-Other sundry topics!

Our question to you, however, is what neglected gaming franchise would you like to see make a comeback and why?  Leave a comment or send an e-mail to forallpod@gmail.com

Until next week, that was a podcast (for all intents and purposes).

Music in this week's episode:

-Stayin' in Black by Wax Audio

-Prelude by Nobuo Uematsu

-Fanfare by Nobuo Uematsu

This Boast is framed around Game of Thrones and does not discuss content; so, there are no spoilers contained herein.

I like the Game of Thrones tv show more than A Song of Ice and Fire––the book series its based on––for a variety of reasons.  First, each book has a page length that, at this point, can only be measured in scientific notation.  At this point in my life, I have taken a firm stance and won’t read books over three-hundred pages (though exceptions can occur)––I’ve got too much else to do and my stupid brain isn’t able to remember that much story.  Second (though related to the first), the ten episodes (at one hour each) that make up each season is the perfect amount for me to not only consume and still have time left in my day but to also remember everything that’s going on.  I have my quibbles about the show, sure, but on the whole I enjoy it quite a bit.  

But don’t tell me to read the books, especially because they’re “better.”  Of that I have no doubt.  It is a fact that tv shows are terrible books because, by definition, tv shows are not books.  However, the reverse is also true. 

Nerds’ slavish devotion to source material puts us into a strange quandary––we are super excited that our beloved stories and characters are getting adapted to other media––and, moreover, they’re super successful––but we also become obsessive hair-splitters who feel the need to declare that one version (usually the original) is superior to the other (usually the adaptation).  I had to stop doing that because I wanted to actually enjoy these adaptations––especially when they’re good.  My first major encounter with this “disappointment” was with Brian Singer’s first X-Men movie.  Namely, how characters were shifted around in terms of relationships and ages for reasons that didn’t seem to make sense.  The biggest offender in this regard was the character of Rogue who, in the comics, was the same age as most of the main cast and even had intimate relations with Magneto for awhile.  For the movie, they basically made her a mixture of Jubilee (i.e., Wolverine’s teenage apprentice) and Kitty Pride (i.e., the new student at the school who is initially wary of being a mutant). 

Though I enjoyed the movie because, in terms of general characterization, Singer got the X-Men right, I made sure to note that it differed from the comics drastically (I am proud to say that I never cared about the lack of comic-inspired costumes, however).  What turned me around was when I thought back to the X-Men cartoon from the ‘90s––another adaptation I was incredibly excited about.  The series was extraordinarily faithful to the comics despite some dodgy animation and I remember being so excited for each episode to start on Saturday mornings that I couldn’t sit still.  However, the feeling that dominates my memories of the show is mostly boredom.  I eventually stopped watching it about halfway into season 3.  It remained incredibly faithful and was even doing some direct adaptations of stories from the comics, but I just couldn’t bring myself to care.  I realized that the show was too close to the comics, that I had already consumed this content but through a different medium––so why would I want to see it on tv if I have the comics in a longbox?

Great artistic expressions are made by artists––that is, people who are adept at expressing themselves in a particular medium.  A great comic book storyteller does not necessarily make a great film director or screenwriter (re: Frank Miller’s Will Eisner’s The Spirit)––a great director makes a movie great.  If properties are being adapted into other media, I’d much rather see an artist of that medium approach the work so that the adaptation will mean something on its own and to not simply be “the movie version” or “the tv version.”  Such requirements diminish the importance of the source material when being adapted.  I point to things like the Hellboy movies––the second one, especially, feels right at home in Guillermo Del Toro’s oeuvre.  I point to The Walking Dead––both the tv show and Telltale’s episodic video game series.  I point to Darwyn Cooke’s Parker graphic novels.  I point to Game of Thrones.

All of these adaptations are done right––they focus on making a good example of the medium which is neither a “dumbing down” of a property to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, nor a point-for-point recreations of the originals.  They want to make a good movie, game, comic, or television show first rather than just make the source material dance like a marionette.  What makes a good book does not make a movie good.  A good adapter knows that and works with the ideas, themes, and characters of the source material to make them as viable to the new medium as they were to the original.  To do that may require changes, however, but if those changes are made out of the same desire to tell a good story––the same motivation as the original creator––then it should yield good results.  Differences don’t make things bad––that’s called bigotry.  Differences are just different, and as a fan it’s important to ask why––not just in terms of the story, but in terms of the medium.

The truth is the correlation between adaptations and their source material is more akin to alternate universes than family relationships.  They rarely feed off on one another, especially once they get going.  The choices one makes neither adversely nor, necessarily, favorably affects the other.  They are separate entities and should be viewed that way.  I’m sure the A Song of Ice and Fire novels have much more complexity and intricacy in terms of plot and character; I understand that.  Game of Thrones, for a tv show, is just as wonderfully complex and dynamic––compared to other tv shows.  And though A Song of Ice and Fire fans have been clamoring eagerly for book 6 in the series for three years––a book which will hold much more information and story than the tv show could ever muster––I’m comforted by the fact that I know I only have to wait a year for season 5.a

We're back for episode three!  This week Andrew and Dan get into trouble talking about topics such as:

-Andrew's recent decent into Bronyhood...sort of.

-Dan left his house, for once, to see a movie!

-Dan also talks about "next gen" gaming.

-Then they come back to talk about the indie game movement, spurred on by this Gamasutra article.

-To right this vehicle, they then talk about Doctor Who again, this time discussing the 2nd Doctor's exit story, The War Games.

-Yes, they know E3 is going on right now. No, they don't talk about it.

As always, they would like to hear from you about what you thought of the episode! You can do that by leaving a comment at the episode page, found at forall.libsyn.com. You can also send them an e-mail at forallpod [at] gmail.com.

For all intents and purposes, this is a blog post.

Music from this episode includes:

-Stayin' in Black by Wax Audio

-I Am the Doctor by Jon Pertwee

Console-based video game fans are in a strange state right now.  In the virtual vacuum between console generations and good games, we tend to become very loud in our uneasiness.  When Sony and Microsoft’s new consoles––the Playstation 4 and XBox One, respectively––hit the market last November, the reigning console generation––being comprised of Sony’s Playstation 3 (PS3), Microsoft’s XBox 360, and Nintendo’s Wii––had lasted eight years, the longest console cycle modern gaming had seen.  The previous generation’s viability is unprecedented, though, because amazing games that pushed unforeseen limits of these machines were being released right up to the end.  The PS3 and 360’s long lifespan consistently upended modern console gaming by setting new standards and growing despite being, ostensibly, the same hardware throughout that time.  Everything from the rise of the first-person shooter (FPS) and the open world to the necessity of on-line multiplayer, from cover systems and branching trees of “morality” to the acceptance of smaller, independent games––the definition of modern gaming kept getting re-written despite the technology staying the same.  What’s important is that this redefinition happened organically over time; certain games, for some reason, were able to pierce the walls of expectations and technological limitations and forced everybody else to jump onto that train.  Before this generation, the defining moments were limited to perhaps one or two major upheavals per console.  By virtue of the fact that this generation lasted so long is impressive in its own right, but it does set a precedent that game-changers (pun intended) need to happen often.

The console gaming culture endured so many sea changes during the previous generation that when the new consoles were announced an interesting phenomenon occurred; the community began trying to codify what “next gen” gaming was, a tendency that became amplified after their release.  This tends to center around the tired “which console is better” debate, and people who have already picked sides end up just yelling at each other.  Some of this discussion focuses around technical aspects of the new consoles––that is, what’s under the hood and how games perform in terms of frame rate and resolution.  Microsoft itself tried to define the future by incorporating a gordian-like integration with a customer’s cable tv into the XBox One.  All of this empty rhetoric feels about as respectable and respectful as a dogfight because frame rate does not make a good game, neither does resolution, or graphics, or the controller, or the manufacturer.  What’s ignored in all of this is the emotional and cultural resonance the experience of a truly revolutionary game has when it hits the community.  Think of Super Mario Bros., or Sonic the Hedgehog, or Metal Gear Solid, or Shadow of the Colossus, or Halo.  These games are among the pantheon of gaming experiences and industry turning points because they felt like they mattered.

Combine those expectations with the first round of games that the new consoles are seeing: most are just higher resolution versions of games that are also available for the previous generation; the exclusive new console games seem to be merely more powerful iterations of games that could be released on the older consoles, though, obviously, not as impressive.  Many are sequels in franchises started in the previous generation.  Aside from barely exploiting the technical advances, these games––so far––are offering nothing truly new.  But I don’t think that’s a problem.  As with any generation, innovation comes with comfort.  The new consoles are just that, and the frames needs to settle before they feel like home for developers and players.  However, the question is continually asked:  when are we going to see some next gen games?

I think that’s the wrong question, however.  It’s short-sighted and hubristic.  It’s not a matter of when they are released––it’s not like they’re being hoarded.  The question to ask is, “what are next gen games?”  The best and scariest part is that we won’t really be able to answer that question until this young generation of consoles ages and is ready to be put to pasture.  No matter how much a person can learn about the technology or study the past, the simple truth is that we don’t know what will come to define this generation of gaming because the needs of gamers change with the society that they live in.  Making predictions is just making wishes.  

The defining characteristics will come with time, out of the blue, and will change the scene around them.  It’ll do what Gears of War, Uncharted, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Assassin’s Creed, Portal, Batman: Arkham Asylum and Braid (among many, many others) did for this generation.  Trying to assert what “next gen” gaming is now is like proclaiming that a baby is going to be president.  More disturbingly, if you are trying accurately to define what next gen gaming is right now, then you are depriving yourself of the most enjoyable part of playing games: discovery. 

As gamers, we need to let ourselves be surprised again, to allow ourselves to walk into the future blind and just play games that developers want to make.  To force definitions on the industry only creates undue pressure; that’s why we get an Assassin’s Creed game and a Call of Duty game every year.  That’s why Rock Band and Guitar Hero don’t exist anymore.  They became exhausted properties because they gave us what we thought we wanted, and they thought what we wanted was not innovation and progress.  But then a LIMBO, Journey, Brothers, or The Last of Us shows up and proves that we don’t know anything.  And then, for a few brief moments, the yelling stops because we’re too busy having fun again. 

This is an expanded version of the Boast of Bethel heard in Episode 2 of A Podcast [ , ] For All Intents and Purposes.

One of the questions fans of weird writer, H. P. Lovecraft, are always asking revolves around “faithful” cinematic adaptations of Lovecraft’s work. There are a few that ardent fans can get behind, such as the very literal adaptation of “Call of Cthulhu” by the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society––but, then again, it was a 90-minute, black and white, silent film adaptation meant to mimic the types of films available at the time the story was published, in the late twenties.  But it is quite a literal re-telling of the famous story and, for all the nested narratives and low-budget aesthetic, it’s a pretty good time.  On the whole, specific film adaptations of Lovecraft’s work are more up to a viewer’s personal taste than cinematic quality.  It’s hard to balance what fans tend to want––a majority of which want a horror film––and what Lovecraft was trying to do––to create a sense of reflective, psychological terror.  

The thesis Lovecraft stuck to over the course of his short but prolific career focused on the idea of cosmicism––that humanity is rather small and ineffective in its place within the universe––and, through his admiration for writers like Poe, Chambers, and Blackwood, tried to alternately find the horror and the terror in such a concept.  The distinction between the two goals is that horror tries to frighten its audience either with monsters, action, gore, frightening scenarios, etc.; and terror is the sinking, hopeless, and helpless feeling generated by the content or theme of the story; that is, even if a story itself is not horrific, it can be terrifying.  Though Lovecraft is known for his tentacled monsters, overwritten prose, and not-so-subtle racism, what he excels at––and why he’s remembered––is that there is really no better place to go for a story about cosmic insignificance that’ll warp your dreams even if you don’t find his story particularly effective.

Because Lovecraft is so focused on crafting an oeuvre that explores the realm of humanity’s inefficacy––and how humanity deals with that––not a lot happens in his stories and his characters aren’t that interesting.  Lovecraft’s most famous monsters are, for lack of a better explanation, unavoidable natural disasters.  They are natural creations of the universe but on a much larger scale than humanity can even comprehend.  So, even though Cthulhu’s general image is of an overgrown destroyer of cities, Lovecraft makes it clear that it’s not out of malice, noting in “The Call of Cthulhu” that Cthulhu and his kind are “free and wild and beyond good and evil[.]”  Everything Lovecraft writes serves this theme.  In that sense, his stories are more akin to preaching than engaging fiction.  Aside from a few stories––“The Dunwich Horror,” “Shadow Over Innsmouth,” and perhaps “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” being the notable exceptions were they to have the director, writer, and budget behind them––Lovecraft’s stories work best as prose and not as literal translations into other media.  We know because it has been tried since the sixties.

Like a good sermon, however, his themes are infinitely applicable.  This is why I would argue Lovecraft is not as culturally viable as fiction which is Lovecraftian.  For what they do more than for what they are, Lovecraft can excel in other forms other than written prose only when those creators take that philosophy and do something unique and engaging with it.  Standouts include John Carpenter’s The Thing (yes, it is based on a novella by HPL contemporary, John W. Campbell, but the close connections between Campbell and HPL and of his novella “Who Goes There?” and “At the Mountains of Madness” makes for some interesting research), Ridley Scott’s Alien, Frank Darabont’s The Mist, and the Joss Whedon project of The Cabin in the Woods, but none are literal, nominal, nor ostensible adaptations of Lovecraft’s work; they are all imbued with his sense of cosmic indifference, though, which makes movies that, while often horrifying, terrify their viewers long after the credits roll.

Another worthy addition to that list of fine Lovecraftian films is Gareth Edward’s Godzilla.  The movie has been generally divisive, especially among Godzilla fans, of which I don’t necessarily consider myself a member.  But I’m not arguing about whether it’s a good Godzilla movie––though I think it is.  My Godzilla credentials are limited.  The only legitimate Godzilla film I’ve seen is the redundant American release of the 1954 original (and ignoring the 1998 Matthew Broderick vehicle).  Despite the strange narrative approach, the social commentary of the original movie is profound even sixty years later.  I don’t think it hurts to say that rubber monsters slapping each other doesn’t interest me very much––there’s a reason why most Godzilla and Godzilla-like movies are fodder for Mystery Science Theater 3000––and the original Godzilla is not that at all.  The creature is a walking metaphor, a theme on stubby legs which represents man’s hubris at playing with science it didn’t truly understand.  The creature is a lurking Japanese memory of the war, of foreign catastrophe and, perhaps, even guilt.  Despite being a man in a rubber suit, the original Godzilla is a wholly appropriate post-war statement.  One which breathes fire.

Going into Edward’s Godzilla, I secretly yearned for a Godzilla that meant something rather than just a two-hour wink-nudge to kaiju fans.  Luckily, even though this Godzilla is drastically different in story, origin, and scope from its predecessors, it is a Godzilla for the modern age.  More personally important, it makes Godzilla a Lovecraftian force of nature.

The ties between Godzilla and Cthulhu aren’t strained: a creature that sleeps at the bottom of the ocean, to surface indeterminately and cause wanton destruction is an apt description of both creatures.  More than that, however (and where this Godzilla departs from its original incarnation), is that this creature is divorced from humanity completely.  No longer is Godzilla a by-product of human ignorance; Godzilla belongs to a time before man, an earthly inhabitant arguably more native to the planet than humanity’s claim to it.  More than that––bad writing aside––Godzilla and its ilk in the new movie are unpredictable and unstoppable forces of nature; to them, humanity means nothing.  This Godzilla doesn’t pick sides because it is neither “good” nor “bad”; it is, as Lovecraft said, a “free and wild” creature which is “beyond good and evil” because it is not recognize humanity’s moral constructs––rules that we created to get a long with each other, not with nature. 

Like any Great Old One, a viewer would wonder if Godzilla even really notices the humanity it stumbles over; perhaps it sees so much change between its periods of consciousness that it just assumes buildings and elevated train tracks are this era’s forested hillsides.  That is what matters, though; we don’t know (though the movie does let us down by having Ken Watanabe correctly guess everything, which is dumb).  And in that ignorance, in that incomprehensible modus operandi, Godzilla becomes undeniably Lovecraftian because not only does humanity not seem to matter to the creature, but the movie makes it clear that there is nothing humanity can do to make it matter.  We throw militaries at it and nothing noticeable nor important happens.  It walks through skyscrapers like a horse through grass.  In the end, all humanity can do is hope it survives this unavoidable and inevitable cataclysmic natural disaster.  Call it an action movie or monster movie, but––for all it could represent in the modern political strata––one thing Godzilla can safely be called is Lovecraftian because of the creature and all of its implications:  Godzilla destroys, yes; that’s horrifying.  What’s terrifying is that Godzilla waits. 

As expected, we have created a second episode for your listening pleasure.  This week, as with last week, our topics went all over the place:

-Andrew discusses his time with the game, Sentinels of the Multiverse.

-D. Bethel discusses his new webcomic, Long John (longjohncomic.com).

-He also boasts about how Godzilla could possibly Cthulhu's second-cousin.

-Andrew gives us all we need to know about the new Dungeons & Dragons.

-In a new segment––Love the Craft––the boys discuss the H. P. Lovecraft story, The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

-To close out the episode, they take a look forward and ask if they have anything exciting planned for the coming week.  (SPOILERS: No.)

Please feel free to leave your thoughts on any of the above topics and we'll read it on next week's show!  

Also, FAIAP (For All Intents And Purposes, that is) is now available for subscription on iTunes if you prefer to get your podcasts there.  

If you prefer e-mail, that is at forallpod@gmail.com

Thanks again for the great response to the show!  We aim to entertain!

Music from this episode includes:

-Stayin' In Black - Wax Audio

Co-creator of Eben07 announces new western webcomic, Long John

After six years of comicking, Eben07 co-creator, co-writer, and illustrator, D. Bethel, is launching his brand new long-form webcomic at the end of June with Long John. 

Long John is a story about a famous gunfighter who wakes up with nothing but his long johns, a gash in his head, and a visit from a mysterious, threatening figure called the Hellrider.

A western webcomic with a noir mystery, a revenge story, and an existential character study mixed into it, Long John.  Though it does not contain any robots, mutants, spaceships, zombies, magic, or aliens, the interesting characters, unforgiving setting, and Long John's story will keep you yearning for the next update.

While not a comedy like Eben07, fans of that comic ore of D. Bethel’s art style will not be disappointed with his new direction with Long John.  Fans of both fast action and slow character moments will find a lot to grab on to as we follow Long John Walker on his quest to find out not only what happened, but who to pay back for doing it.

Long John starts updating on Tuesday, June 24th, 2014 and will update regularly twice a week with short breaks between chapters.  Head to longjohncomic.com to find out more.

In the premiere episode of A Podcast [ , ] For All Intents and Purposes, we are introduced to the hosts: Andrew, a stew of nuclear engineering, lawyering, and quizomancy; and Dan, a comicker who teaches English––as they fill you in on a variety of topics, including:

-Pokemon

-Original Comic Art

-Boasts of Bethel: Dan's Statement of Nerdly Purpose

-The David Goyer/She Hulk Incident

-Doctor Who Ramble: The Leisure Hive

We're still working out the kinks and finding our feet; but we hope you enjoy it all the same, for all intents and purposes.

Music from this episode includes:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"I Am the Doctor" by Jon Pertwee