The Two Vague Podcast

Norah joins Ben this week to talk about the word pin!  It’s a fastener!  It’s a connector!  It’s a target!  It holds things in place!  Is there anything “pin” can’t do?  Topics include: chess, pin phrases, bowling, punk rock, pin collections, pinball, laserdisc games, and the TWEWY franchise
00:01:06 - Seasonal fruits, fascinating cloth, plugs, and sockets00:04:39 - The word pin in chess, Adam the chess oracle, and playing games with the family00:08:45 - Ben wins toilet paper at church, a Venn diagram, and a paper of pins00:11:45 - Personal Identification Numbers, pin cushions, and Montague Redgrave 00:14:43 - Norah explains what is a pin table is, and discussing tactile interactions in games00:17:03 - Ben almost gets a 300 in bowling club, and grandma beats Tom and Norah00:19:50 - The bowling congress, don’t stab your baby, and the safety pin00:22:43 - Ben talks about punk rock, the song “Needles and Pins,” and “slacktivism”00:26:40 - Holding hats and hair with pins, and getting pinned by your partner in college 00:29:37 - Collecting pins at PAX, the value of Disney pins, and pinup girls00:33:50 - The social media pinning mistake, and why are they called rolling pins?00:36:40 - Quiet enough to hear a (rolling) pin drop, pinstriped things, and pinwheels 00:38:45 - Pin the tail on the donkey, and the pinhole camera00:42:10 - Why it’s called pinball, and playing pinball video games for nostalgic purposes 00:48:08 - A video game stretch from Norah, and Ben’s PopCap beta testing experiences 00:50:37 - The Lupin the 3rd connection to the laserdisc game Cliffhanger  00:55:20 - The World Ends With You, the Nintendo DS, NEO: TWEWY, and “80s pins”01:00:40 - Neku learns the power of friendship, and Sho Minamimoto uses many math quotes01:04:47 - Not a breakfast from Denny’s, the noise, TGI Fridays, and Tower Records  01:08:59 - Closing the show with an uncomfortable phrase from Norah

This week hosts Ben and Norah are talking about the word roll.  As a verb and as a noun it conjures up a wide variety of phrases and concepts.  Along with the conversational riffing, additional topics include: ball bearings, inline skates, some mild Physics, RollerGames, and the 1975 movie Rollerball.  Then it’s on to video games!  Ben talks about Roller Champions, Mega Man, Katamari Damacy, and Bouldy from Hades.  
00:00:21 - A belated Happy Birthday to the 2VP, and Ben and Norah get the show rollin’00:02:23 - The Ann Sather incident of every time Norah goes, and cinnamon rolls00:04:19 - Number 2 on the “Norah roll list…” rock n’ roll!00:06:07 - “I guess it depends on the baby,” and Ben thinks about “rolling” baby Hitler00:08:34 - A lost opportunity to start the show with the Rawhide theme song00:10:45 - MythBusters tests the saying “a rolling stone gathers no moss” 00:13:05 - “Honor roll” vs. “on a roll,” rollover investments, roll over Beethoven, etc.00:15:47 - The key part of the “muffin top,” rolls of food, and almonds?00:18:29 - The “Rolling with the punches” philosophy of life, and more food.00:20:56 - Roller skates, inline skates, skateboards, and ball bearings00:22:53 - The coefficients of sliding, static friction (angle of repose) and more on ball bearings00:26:48 - Ben’s inline skates, age appropriate exercise, and watching roller derby00:29:45 - Ben remembers the only season of RollerGames, and licensed arcade machines00:33:31 - Learning about the 1975 movie Rollerball, and “…don’t watch the 2002 version!” 00:39:38 - Ben talks about the new Roller Champions game from Ubisoft00:43:34 - Explaining “soccer cars” to Norah00:45:59 - The first Mega Man (Rockman) game, and Ben actually knows it’s Wily not Willy  00:51:23 - Ben talks about Katamari Damacy, one of his favorite games 00:58:20 - It’s actually Sisyphean, but Ben and Norah like “Sisyphus-ian” more01:01:08 - Closing the show… “STEAMROLLER!”

It wasn’t the original plan, but Ben convinced the infamous Aunt Norah to co-host with him this week!  One could say it was “in the stars” so to speak.  In the Venn diagram of the universe stars are celestial bodies and our word is a celestial body, but our word is not a star.  Ben and Norah delve in to all of the things they can think of that relate to the word moon: common sayings, urban legends, movies, music, comic books, NASA, and video games.
00:02:05 - Starting the moon conversation with some measurements00:05:35 - Unbeknownst to her, Norah is actually thinking of Whoopie Pies not Moon Pies00:08:13 - “We don’t keep score here at the Two Vague Podcast,” and moon the verb00:11:00 - Is “moon face” insulting and what is anchor spleen?00:13:00 - The moon movies “A Trip to the Moon” and “Outland”00:17:30 - Did Norah watch the moon landing on television?00:19:50 - Watching the Wizard of Oz while listening to Dark Side of the Moon00:22:54 - Alan Parson’s complete load of eye wash, and the Eye in the Sky album00:26:15 - Jamiroquai, Titan AE, and Everybody’s Going to the Moon00:30:30 - The word honeymoon, and this month’s Strawberry Supermoon00:36:50 - The Artemis program, and Space Force on Netflix00:41:10 - Ben talks about the Disney + series Moon Knight, and Dissociative Identity Disorder 00:48:05 - The arcade game Moon Patrol was the first game to use parallax scrolling 00:50:25 - Facts about Ben’s favorite “angel killing witch wearing a suit of her own hair” game 00:55:20 - Ben loves Grasshopper Manufacture and Suda51 games00:59:46 - Killer is Dead, malice, soft boiled eggs, and the Bryan Execution Firm 01:04:10 - Final thoughts on the moon, and “if the moon were made of cheese?

This week Ben talks about his vehicular troubles, supplemental show ideas, the Paramount+ shows he’s been watching, and his preliminary experiences with Far Cry 6.  He also does a “dramatic” reading of the iconic Star Trek opening monologue.
00:00:30 - Not an apology and Ben’s vehicle issues00:03:00 - The soliloquy experiment, getting Paramount +, CSI, and Star Trek00:09:10 - Ben takes a crack at the Star Trek opening monologue, and Far Cry 600:12:03 - Boars, dingos, eagles, rhinos, and mongooses… ATTACK!00:14:41 - Closing the show with a thank you.

Aspiring actor (and top notch barista) Ryan joins Ben to talk about the word comic.  Ben is going super-old school with his trivia and references, and Ryan tries to keep up.  They discuss their favorite stand-up comedians, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ( mild spoilers 16:02 - 39:02 ), their favorite comic themed video games, and what comic book characters they would make a game about if they could.
00:00:45 - “Is it safe,” Ryan doesn’t like the word soccer, and the origin of the word comic00:03:27 - Norm Macdonald, “not a sponsor,” 180 people, and comedians in cars00:08:03 - Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Burr’s blood pressure, and does Ben sound like Ray Romano?00:10:08 - Ryan reveals what he enjoyed about hosting a comedy show00:16:02 - Ben’s favorite stand-up comedians starting with Jake Johannsen00:19:45 - Taylor Tomlinson’s comedy special focusing on her mental health00:21:39 - A spoiler-ish discussion about Doctor Strange 2, comics, and the MCU00:25:59 - Universe 199,999, the Illuminati sequence, and Ben’s plot hole questions 00:30:35 - Ben’s concerns about Brian Michael Bendis’ impact on the future of the MCU00:33:30 - Will the multiverse in the MCU result in more lazy script writing? 00:39:02 - A brief history of the Unknown Comic00:42:42 - Ryan still loves the Batman: Arkham and the Marvel Ultimate Alliance franchises00:46:23 - Accolade’s Comics on the C64 and Comix Zone on the Sega Genesis 00:49:15 - Sam & Max Hit the Road by Lucasarts and Cadillacs & Dinosaurs by Capcom00:51:00 - Ryan asks, “If you could make a video game from a comic, what would it be?”00:53:08 - Thoughts on the cel shading art style in video games.00:55:03 - Ben is playing NEO:TWEWY, Ryan’s Superman game story, and closing the show

It’s Mental Health Awareness Month and Rusty (perhaps the most positive person on planet Earth) joins Ben on the podcast to discuss a word that he feels is important to develop in life… resilience.  Ben has conducted extensive research on the psychology of being resilient, the Google Ngram Viewer, and a mobile game designer who created an application to help her “slay her concussion.”  Meanwhile, Rusty shares his secrets to a positive attitude and his enjoyment of the Horizon franchise.
00:00:54 - Why did Rusty pick the word resilience?00:03:40 - Be the captain of your own ship, maintain your morale, and try not to get distracted 00:07:03 - Ben tries to imagine “angry Rusty,” and then to explain Google’s Ngram viewer  00:10:15 - Increased usage of the word resilience, and back to a glossary of n-gram terms00:14:03 - Rusty responds to Ron Breazeale’s “11 skills/attitudes that can increase resilience" 00:22:34 - Video game characters finding their own resiliences, and Horizon’s Aloy 00:27:03 - Venting about the loss of a special character in Forbidden West00:29:01 - Guerrilla Games is likely a Twizzlers family 00:33:10 - The water levels in Horizon: Forbidden West 00:36:51 - The “stealth kelp” plot hole, and forcing the player to hide in the water00:39:02 - A bug is preventing Rusty from getting platinum, and blaming Aquaman 00:40:15 - Jane McGonigal’s books, games, and her story of resilience 00:43:10 - The game SuperBetter and how it can be used to improve resilience 00:46:45 - Ben’s “back in my day moment,” and a “shout out” for Ann00:48:03 - Rusty and Ben’s closing thoughts on resilience!

Dr. Tahnee is back in studio to provide her expert opinions on the subject of translation!  Ben may not be a “Spoony Bard” but all of his base do belong to them… as they discuss the intricacies of communicating source language content successfully in a target language.  What does translation success mean or even look like?  Listen in to their discussions and find out! 
00:00:20 - This week Ben and Tahnee are talking about the word translation!00:01:00 - “The Alchemist” is better translated to English than in the original Portuguese? 00:04:10 - Tahnee’s thoughts on two books she read that were translated from Japanese 00:07:05 - Ben thinks “District B-13” and “Shaolin Soccer” didn’t need language translations00:09:10 - How do you translate facial expressions?00:12:50 - Interpreting gestures and body language  00:15:00 - Tahnee’s Pro Tip: DON’T DO THE OK SIGN IN BRAZIL!00:16:55 - Movie titles can be more descriptive in other languages00:20:15 - American movie titles in Portuguese, and Ben’s favorite, “Eleven Men and a Secret”00:22:50 - “Translator traitor,” “correct” translations, and ways to translate fiction00:26:20 - Songs in other languages, and Tahnee asks “Are translators artists?”00:30:25 - Food for though on “eating word” translations00:32:35 - Ben thinks about math when he hears the word translation?00:35:20 - Tahnee has questions about video game translations and localizations 00:37:40 - Ben’s opinion on if translators for games need to have video game experience00:43:10 - All about the Twilight Zone episode “To Server Man”00:46:30 - Spoiler alert… “IT’S A COOKBOOK!”00:51:25 - Tahnee shares her video game research with Ben00:54:01 - Censorship, profanity, a bit from Netflix’s “The Pentaverate,” and the “Spoony Bard”00:57:00 - Ben explains to Tahnee how video games teach you how to play01:00:15 - Tahnee’s thoughts on the importance of translating documents01:05:10 - Game translation errors, and Tahnee’s expert assessment on “what went wrong”01:12:00 - The story or the “I AM ERROR” meme from “The Legend of Zelda 2” 01:14:40 - Mango gets vocal to end the show

This week Dr. Tahnee is back to discuss the word translation, but first we call up Aunt Norah!  She has 3 questions that are perfect for our guest’s chosen profession / field of expertise.  Discussion topics include: gender pronouns, learning languages, discriminatory tendencies in AI, and linguist centric humor
00:00:22 - Many hellos to / from Norah, and Ben’s “hot take” on media reviewers today00:02:07 - How are gender non-specific concepts being handled in gendered languages?00:07:23 - What happens in the brain when a child learns 2 languages simultaneously?00:09:15 - When does it become more difficult to learn new languages?00:11:39 - Ben has no book bag, Norah isn’t feeling well … both in German! 00:13:25 - When translating a book, who is best suited to “accurately” translate it?00:16:15 - Global awareness, translations, time, and changing customs00:19:23 - The word translation, and the different meanings in different cultures00:22:26 - The work of linguists: haves, has, peruse, Peru, and Peru00:24:43 - A discussion about how translation will work in the metaverse00:26:57 - The open AI artist DALL-E 2 is currently showing racial and gender biased output00:32:37 - The Twitter bot Tay and how she became EVIL!00:38:14 - Thinking about computational linguistics, artificial intelligence, and morphology00:43:21 - Norah tell a linguist joke, and we say goodbye

The one and only Aunt Norah is in town this week to see her favorite (?) nephew Ben, or perhaps it’s just to record a show about the word metaverse?  Who’s to say?  They do have differing views on what it is and what it could be; however, it’s a very interesting discussion from a generation X-er and a Baby Boomer just trying to make sense of it all.
00:00:21 - It’s a dry heat, and starting off the show with TWO questions from my Aunt!00:01:30 - “What makes NFTs bad for the environment?”00:04:05 - “What is augmented reality, and how is different from virtual reality?”00:06:30 - Norah starts the metaverse conversation00:08:30 - What does a successful metaverse look like?00:11:15 - Origin of the Snow Crash book title 00:13:35 - Was Norah listening?  You decide!00:15:25 - E-Bay experiences, Beanie Babies, and Norah says, “on point!”00:19:00 - Auction houses for real art in the metaverse00:21:05 - Embedding chips in humans, DNA, and disengaging from VR00:27:00 - “Kids, don’t bring your guns to amusement parks,” the word meta, and Don Quixote 00:31:00 - In Hebrew meta means dead, and Ben says “the dog’s bollocks”00:33:30 - Second Life, and facial expressions, emotes, and “don’t F with me…”00:37:35 - Leveraging data mining in the metaverse, and Ben definitely wants those cat ears00:40:05 - Unwieldy hardware, and is a conflict-free metaverse possible?00:43:00 - Concerns about the development of the metaverse, and the evolution of bullying00:47:55 - Will the development of the metaverse make humanity exponentially worse?00:50:40 - Will the metaverse ever become the “real” world?00:53:20 - The “Benaverse,” game evolution, and will Norah try VR?00:57:10 - Ben’s concerns about crime, and Norah thinks the metaverse will alway be pretend01:00:00 - “AI means artificial intelligence,” be careful, and favorite nephew… question mark?

This week Paul joins Ben to discuss the word virtual.  Topics covered include: virtual experiences present and future, programming languages, virtual software environments, pioneers of the home computing industry, pondering the uses of virtual reality in the future, and envisioning improvements to VR hardware.
00:00:30 - “Jinx, you owe me a coke”00:03:01 - “Does technology make us more or less virtuous?”00:05:55 - The game Ben can’t remember is Kung Fu Rider 00:07:50 - Paul describes some programming languages and concepts for Ben 00:12:40 - Ben has questions about object oriented programming for Paul00:16:01 - Representing everyday objects as code, databases, and going wireless00:19:01 - The effects of VR on the body and brain00:24:05 - Ben’s experience with Mass VR in Chicago00:29:03 - Semantics of live simulations and virtual ones00:32:35 - What can virtual reality contribute to experiences other than games 00:37:03 - Experiencing television programs and movies in virtual reality… present and future00:41:23 - Thinking about non-entertainment uses for VR00:43:07 - Bill Gates’ and Steve Jobs’ visions of the future of computers00:46:18 - Watch the “Fantastic Voyage” trailer, and what experiences do consumers want00:48:28 - Envisioning educational uses for virtual reality00:53:01 - Adding other senses to virtual reality, and Ben talks about the movie Brainstorm 00:56:46 - Stinky Weasel 2812 and Butt Tickler 8700:57:31 - Paul and Ben’s thoughts on what the future holds for virtual experiences01:01:25 - “An amplified version of the things that are wrong with us”

Andrew is back in Tucson with Ben this week, and it’s about time… figuratively AND literally!  Andrew shares stories about teaching, inspirations for his novel, his favorite authors, riding the light rail in Portland, and dreaming about acronyms.  Ben talks about Choose Your Own Adventure books, a mildly disappointing reality show, a favorite time loop movie filmed near his home town, and the arcade game “Time Killers.”
00:00:21 - Ben and Andrew (and maybe Bash and Mango) are this week’s hosts.00:03:00 - Time gets funny for Andrew, the perception of time, and Andrew’s new novel 00:06:40 - What inspired Andrew to write about the horrible time travelers 00:13:50 - “The Beast Beyond Time,” and writing around the pandemic00:15:45 - The second coming of Frank Zappa, and public stock manipulation00:20:00 - Not familiar with the band, another recess story, and more perception00:23:46 - The origin of “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, remembering InfoCom games00:27:40 - Don’t say “fanny pack” in AU, Andrew’s light rail story, and Prius stigma 00:34:20 - Andrew’s spacetime explanation, and not enough hallucinogens00:37:20 - A teachable moment for Norah, acronyms, and “Kiss of Death” 00:40:37 - Lego Masters and… Domino Masters?00:43:07 - Ben’s reality show idea, and a cool short story Andrew read00:46:50 - Many spider mans, the Marvel Multiverse, and other time travel movies 00:50:04 - Andrew has issues with Christopher Nolan 00:54:01 - Groundhog Day movie trivia00:58:10 - One time travel themed fighting arcade game history segment01:00:47 - TV series Russian Doll, and a discussion on “straight to streaming” projects01:04:30 - Time travel in Star Trek, and Andrew’s favorite time travel movie01:07:52 - Shut… it… down… and goodbye.

Philosophy student Jenna and Generation X-er Ben are talking about the word morality this week, but before they get started on this thought provoking topic… they have a “warmup chat” with Norah.  After the official show introduction Ben and Jenna dive in to the discussion… and it goes to some unexpected places.  Video games mentioned include the GTA franchise, Call of Duty, Dante’s Inferno, the Mass Effect franchise, Fallout 3, and Detroit: Become Human.
00:00:21 - The Ben, Jenna, and Norah with the (depressing?) morality warmup00:01:40 - Alan Turing, Oscar Wilde, ferries, and Staten Island 00:06:00 - Morality threshold, scorecards, a literal “Hail Mary”, and moral friction00:09:23 - Morels, the Dead Milkmen, and Jenna is bringing the theory 00:12:03 - The official start of the show, “only hot girls get IBS,” and Jenna’s college courses 00:16:10 - The other side of coin, and looking at things from the marginalized viewpoint 00:19:05 - People’s ignorance about feminism, and the shared human experience00:22:23 - Truth, emotions, and being open to different perspectives00:24:45 - Religion’s impact on morality, “grey areas,” and s’mores   00:28:35 - A disagreement about chocolate, marshmallows, and crispy rice treats00:31:00 - Jenna does not like Abraham Lincoln in copper form, and Ben’s strip club story00:34:20 - The “nudie bucket,” and the morality of the sex / service industry 00:37:01 - The difference between ethics and morals, and further discussion about sex work00:42:00 - Nel Noddings and the ethics of care, unconscious bias, and the Bechdel test00:48:15 - Ben’s oil scenario, and the “fluidity” of people’s morals 00:51:36 - Jenna wants to play Dungeons and Dragons, and Ben explains some D&D nuances 00:55:02 - Alignment and the “black and white” nature of morality mechanics in games01:02:29 - Jenna reflects on law, chaos, and being a member of the LBGTQ+ community  01:05:00 - Ben’s Fallout 3 scenario, game narrative, choice, and Detroit: Become Human01:12:11 - Jenna is a s’mores advocate and has hope for the future01:13:42 - Ben closes the show with a Blue Thunder quote

Ben is excited to tell you about Two Vague’s work on their “Only Fans” page!  Additional topics include a brief summary of the OnlyFans platform, some interesting facts about fans, (maybe fictional) details about 2VPs “Only Fans” page, one of Ben’s favorite commercials, his time with a sequel in the Horizon franchise, and some trivia about… “April Fools Day!”
00:00:40 - Some information about OnlyFans, and our announcement00:02:00 - A brief history of fans, our new fan-centric content, and protect your oscillating fan00:04:10 - Ben talks about his experience with Horizon: Forbidden West00:06:45 - New mission types in Forbidden West00:08:46 - Aloy’s story arc, and an impactful death on the horizon (pun intended)00:10:39 - Morality, time, and metaverse are upcoming words00:11:25 - April Fools’ Day history, and derrière based humor  00:13:15 - Media based pranks, and the moon is made of cheese00:15:20 - Thank you for your support!

For this week’s discussion, Ben (and an incredibly vocal Mango who presumably was confused with Ben appearing like he was talking to himself for an hour and a half) is joined by Aunt Norah for a somewhat unfamiliar word to both of them, but it’s nothing that can’t be cured by some research and questioning of Chicago restaurant waitstaff.  Topics of discussion include Lunchables, Economics, “The Problem with Jon Stewart”, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, a Michael Jordan story, and in-game collections. 
00:01:05 - “When was the first time you heard the word fungible?”00:04:10 - A brief history of Lunchables, and Norah’s advertising experience 00:08:50 - Charcuter-Easy … (soon to be trademarked?) 00:11:10 - The lunchmeat exchange rate, cryptocurrency, fiat money, and Norah is not new00:14:50 - Grandpa preferred paying with a physical thing00:18:05 - Ben thinks Jon Stewart needs to invest in a comma 00:22:35 - Is a stock market a mechanism for gambling?00:28:45 - The 2 items in Norah’s top 3 things she learned in economics class00:30:45 - Ben’s cryptocurrency research and glossary of terms 00:36:50 - Ben’s NFT research and glossary of terms00:42:15 - OpenSea is the largest NFT marketplace, pizza, and pizza NFTs00:45:45 - Norah asks, “Is this a new form or art?”00:49:00 - Ben’s Non-Fungible Tolkien creation example, and Norah gets the reference 00:52:50 - The inter-Met(-ropolitan Museum of Art), and the high-class version of the pet rock00:57:20 - Ben’s Chicago Bulls Michael Jordan slam dunk story00:59:20 - LimeWire... is it music, malware, or hardcore porn? 01:01:15 - Taxes, NFTs, and the first time Ben has uttered a particular sentence01:06:05 - Thoughts on digital collections in games, loot crates, and the value of cosmetics01:08:30 - Again with the GameStop desperation tactics, and the Warframe in-game economy01:12:12 - Norah’s cat suit, and the evils of micro-transactions01:13:30 - Closing the show with Norah’s unintentional AOL style goodbye.

Paul joins Ben this week to discuss the word drive.  The conversation focuses mostly on professional racing due to Paul’s enthusiasm about the topic, but Ben has a few trick questions, some trivia, and maybe a golf club up his sleeve.  Paul shares his knowledge of Formula 1 and NASCAR racing with Ben, and they both reflect upon their favorite console driving games. 
00:00:35 - Paul gets right to the point… “speed run” and F100:05:27 - Ben talks about the BMW commercial series “The Hire”00:07:45 - Vehicle movies: Fast and the Furious, Drive, and “Die Hard on a Bus” a.k.a. Speed00:11:00 - Ben’s rankings website idea, and he explains the original Speed Racer cartoon00:15:38 - The extent of Ben’s knowledge on golf, and Paul talks about playing it in VR00:18:34 - About Apple Arcade, “Platinum Games,” and then Ben has a minor senior moment00:23:30 - Road trips, piloting, and Paul talks about his love of F1 racing 00:29:17 - The Halo system and safety standards in Formula 1 racing00:33:34 - How frequent are fatal accidents in F1 and NASCAR?00:38:45 - Car designs, challenging technical innovations, and is Lewis Hamilton retiring soon?00:42:25 - When Paul realized professional driving was a sport00:45:46 - Paul’s PC racing rig and experiences with iRacing00:50:07 - Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen participates in iRacing events?!00:54:24 - Overcoming hardware failures in F1 races, and the shortcomings of race simulations 01:00:48 - Racing games: Gran Turismo, Need for Speed, Midnight Club, and Burnout 01:04:20 - “Getting mad that Taco Bell isn’t like Mexican food”01:06:03 - Playing arcade racing games on the Sega Dreamcast01:08:45 - Kart racing in Tokyo, Japan… and in Arizona  01:13:35 - Paul shoots down Ben’s AR karting hybrid idea, and their closing thoughts.