The Two Vague Podcast

This week Ben is joined by Marily for a special episode for the holiday season; it’s all about family (or familia en Español).  Instead of focusing on the negative histories of the holidays they choose discuss the food, traditions and personal stories associated with family get-togethers.  Marily shares her thoughts on family gatherings, making tamales, Mario Kart, and the Christmas gift she wants this year.  Ben talks about the biological classification of organisms, the Pointer Sisters, stand-up comedians, his first console, and cross-play functionality in games.
00:00:20 - Introducing hosts Ben and Marily 00:01:47 - Ring Tailed Lemur yoga in Florida00:03:10 - Gender of nouns and societal norms 00:05:50 - Celebrating Marily’s heritage and family in multiple countries 00:09:20 - Changing personal perspectives on the questionable origins of holidays00:10:49 - Michelle Wolf’s joke about smallpox and people being offended00:13:00 - Technology, communication and being human  00:17:45 - Having a conversation with someone in a sea of millions of possible participants00:20:03 - Ben’s ‘Cool Hand Luke’ interlude and… balls00:22:18 - CFO or CEO? 00:25:45 - Unconditional love, family, mental health, boundaries, and nuance00:30:00 - A field of big juicy melons and the biological classification of organisms00:33:33 - Dogs, legumes, cats, and the book ‘Systema Naturæ’00:35:46 - The Pointer Sisters and Beverly Hills Cop00:37:35 - Stand-up comedy: dirty or clean?00:40:56 - Ben’s Scooby Doo impression, and “why are there so many masks?”00:42:51 - Marily’s family food tradition… Birria and Chicharrón tamales!00:48:34 - Fun fact: Hawaiian pizza was invented in… 00:49:13 - More tamale talk00:53:43 - Ben’s holiday food favorites, and signature family dish favorites01:00:30 - Potato salad, Paul’s sausage stuffing, Ben’s weird quesadillas, and tuna salad01:05:50 - Ben and Adam’s Atari 2600 plan… SUCCESS! 01:08:57 - Families of game consoles 01:10:40 - Marily’s childhood game console memories and the joys of Mario Kart01:13:51 - Marily wants a Nintendo Switch for Christmas01:16:01 - Talking a little bit about cross-play making console families larger01:18:15 - Marily provides the “correct response,” and closing the show 

Due to Ben’s aging issues, there was a “pain delay” on the week’s episode, but to make up for that, it’s a jumbo sized one that goes many interesting places.  Cheyenne joins Ben this week to do some critical thinking and to talk about the word context.  Before digging in to this very dense subject, we address a pressing question from Norah about current gaming platforms.  Then after discussing social media applications, they talk about a very interesting college course Cheyenne is taking.  Ben and Cheyenne’s conversation then turns to the news… quite literally, when they critique a newspaper article on Internet Gaming Disorder.  Finally, they close the show with the topics of Dungeons and Dragons, tabletop games, LARP-ing, collectibles, and context aware gaming.
00:00:20 - Cheyenne bought a vacuum 00:03:34 - A lengthy discussion about a game system recommendation as a “starter” for Norah00:15:20 - Cheyenne’s thoughts on Xbox Game Pass and developer00:17:55 - With or without the comma, “I hope that helped Norah” and on to context00:20:10 - Cheyenne talks about the “big picture” and zooming out00:23:00 - A side conversation about social media applications past and present 00:27:25 - The internet “mob mentality” and ethical concerns of misinformation  00:31:20 - The breeding ground of trolls 00:33:45 - “… comedy, discomfort or misunderstandings”00:38:55 - Blue’s Clues’ cousin and Cheyenne’s Engineering course  00:42:45 - Context and software development 00:45:50 - Bad journalism and decision quality information00:48:40 - The impact of Mr. Thiel’s Journalism class on Ben’s critical thinking skills00:52:03 - 1 in 20 College Students has Internet Gaming Disorder, Research Reveals00:55:39 - What is Internet Gaming Disorder?00:58:46 - False correlations, singling out gaming and not citing your sources01:01:37 - 3000 students were interviewed for 75 minutes, now that is depressing01:10:17 - How do you prefer to play video games?01:11:45 - Ben’s D&D pickup line01:13:47 - Cheyenne also likes playing tabletop games01:16:55 - Cheyenne explains PvP and PvE to Norah01:17:57 - LARP-ing and Evermore Park01:21:40 - Amibos, Skylanders Figures and the Square Enix Lord of Vermillion arcade game01:24:25 - Context aware, virtual reality and augmented reality games01:28:10 - Signing off

On this supplemental episode 20 plus your favorite fraction less than 1, Ben soliloquizes about Ghostbusters, comedian Jake Johannsen, getting older, the psoas muscle, yoga, Goat Simulator, Guardians of the Galaxy, Psychonauts 2 and what words are coming in future episodes.
00:00:45 - Gozer worshipers and a slow moving Torb00:02:35 - Ben’s “athletic type injury”00:04:00 - The Suez Canal and cat yoga by proxy00:06:25 - Odd animal yoga and Goat Simulator00:09:00 - GOTY games for 2021- Guardians of the Galaxy or Psychonauts 2? 00:13:10 - Coming soon to the Two Vague Podcast…00:16:05 - Thank you for hanging in there!

Ben is excited about Marily’s first appearance on the show; she wants to talk about about the word agriculture!  This is a sprawling episode. Topics include: the life of a field worker, childhood stories, the 4H Club, meat sciences, experimental cornfields, pinball, and “Farming Simulator 22.”  As luck would have it, Ben just started playing “Sakuna: of Rice and Ruin” and wants to share his thoughts on it. 
00:00:20 - Introducing this week’s hosts Ben and Marily00:01:05 - Marily reminisces about her family and field workers00:03:14 - “The Rural Juror” and the life of a field worker00:08:10 - Ben spends time at the farm as a youngster with Derek00:10:19 - It works that way everywhere… on the planet00:12:00 - Marily remembers driving to and from California00:14:43 - Who likes lengua?00:16:35 - Town oder and train stories 00:19:55 - Feline alarm clocks00:21:45 - César Chávez and Dolores Huerta00:26:26 - The crops of Arizona and California, and the 4H Club00:29:00 - Ben’s college stories and Meat Sciences 00:31:58 - The experimental cornfield and… the name00:34:30 - A quick discussion about GMOs and “terminator seeds”00:37:02 - Marily considered pursuing a degree in an agriculture related field 00:39:27 - Mango opens a squeaky window (seriously) and conspiracy00:40:48 - Ben’s Mulligan Stew confusion and some 4H trivia 00:45:08 - Not a gamer and talking about farming simulations 00:48:37 - The tractors says hello to Ben and Farming Simulator has ethical concerns 00:51:16 - Farming supply companies were confused about Farming Simulator 00:54:30 - Marily bonds with clients as a caregiver00:56:13 - Marily says the magic word and Ben talks about it00:59:23 - An agriculture themed pinball machine01:01:07 - The incredible detail of Farming Simulator 2201:03:08 - The interest-free loan from slumlord Tom Nook01:05:45 - Paul’s Christmas present? 01:07:29 - Ben loves “Sakuna: of Rice and Ruin”01:12:24 - Closing the show with garlic memories

It’s a special midnight release of our Halloween episode!  The amazing Techtic (tinkerer extraordinaire) from the Online Warriors Podcast joins Ben this week to discuss horror!  Creepy… maybe, but certainly an appropriate theme for this time of year.  We wish Norah a Happy Birthday by starting with “Questions from my Aunt!”  Techtic gets freaked out by the concept of abduction but will always protect his dog!  The conversation then moves on to their favorite horror movies.  Then they “wrap up” the show talking about horror in video games and virtual reality.  
00:00:20 - Techtic and Ben are the horrific hosts... spooky!00:02:00 - “An army of grandmas.” What is a FPS?  What is an “open world” game? 00:05:45 - Techtic’s examples of how not to be reckless in open world games.00:07:55 - Aliens and Slenderman!00:10:40 - Techtic is a dog parent… number one!00:15:15 - Abduction and then… Fangoria magazine! 00:19:40 - Favorite horror movies: “Pet Cemetery” and “The Serpent and the Rainbow”00:24:10 - Techtic thinks he needs a “NOPE!” track. 00:28:40 - Techtic’s snack strategy for long movies 00:31:10 - “Hallucinations can be anything," and the power of the human brain!00:34:20 - How many jump scares do you need?00:38:10 - Scary monsters in video games, the Dead Space franchise, and Techtic’s callback00:40:20 - Perspiration and evaporative cooling00:43:50 - “This is going to require some explanation.”00:45:20 - Horror in VR!00:48:45 - When you don’t their name…00:50:40 - Techtic’s parting words of wisdom and have a Happy Halloween!

Just in time for the Halloween season, Nerdbomber from the Online Warriors Podcast joins Ben this week to discuss the word superstition.  There will be no future ghost hunting experiences for Nerdbomber.  Both hosts are amazed with Stevie Wonder’s musical output.  Nerdbomber is fascinated by the Wendigo.  Next, a video game and sports ritual discussion.  To wrap up the show, the hosts talk about the use of tarot card game mechanics, and Ben shares a story about the time he met Queen Latifah.
00:00:20 - Introducing Nerdbomber from www.onlinewarriorspodcast.com00:00:50 - Superstitions and Halloween stuff00:02:45 - Norah’s question about haptics and the PS500:06:45 - Nerdbomber holds her breath and doesn’t believe in ghosts00:10:10 - Ben’s old brain, the “Foam Mountains,” and Stevie Wonder00:16:55 - “When you believe in things you don’t understand, then you suffer…”00:18:35 - Nerdbomber, the Wendigo, and the Chinese lantern  00:23:10 - Ouija boards and scary movies00:26:25 - “Everybody has a camera now”00:29:20 - Blowing in the cartridges and good luck00:32:25 - Hockey and sports in video games 00:42:32 - Ben buys tarot cards for the artwork or maybe to impress girls 00:46:50 - Sayonara Wild Hearts and that time Ben met Dana Owens00:50:05 - Rhythm games and DDR00:52:55 - Games that take 100 hours or more to complete 00:55:55 - Shin Megami Tensei and Luigi’s Mansion00:58:45 - “The World Ends With You” and “The World Ends With You Neo”01:02:02 - Nerdbomber + 2 drinks and her parting words of wisdom 

Sammi joins Ben this week to get nostalgic about miscellaneous pop culture.  This is a heavy storytelling episode, but they eventually get to video games.  Sammie doesn’t like zip-lines or pinball machines.  Thoughts on remastered games from Sammi and Ben.
00:00:20 - Sammi and Ben start getting nostalgic00:01:00 - The rain, the 80s, GTA, and Genesis00:03:16 - Nostalgia… “it’s all Greek to me”00:05:50 - Ben forgets to mention the song Summertime00:08:10 - “Not the watermelon dude” and the 7 words 00:11:20 - The amygdala and the country’s best yoghurt00:13:54 - Berlin and Sammi gets in to Napster00:17:10 - 80s music videos00:20:14 - Ben forgets which pill to take00:23:20 - Sammi and Ben talk about toys and movies 00:31:51 - Sammi suggests removing the stairs and says nope to zip-lines00:39:40 - Nostalgic movies 00:43:26 - “Some other bitch” and N64  00:48:41 - Tommy scarred Sammi with “abuse and beans”00:53:01 - Game remasters00:55:23 - Ben gushes about Psychonauts 200:59:51 - Crazy Taxi and putting on the bow 

Former teacher turned custom jewelry maker Rachel, joins Ben for a discussion about creativity.  In addition to her thoughts on the subject, Rachel shares how she discovered her creative niche through experimentation with different mediums and how a particular TikTok video she made went viral and jump started her business.  Ben talks about Sigmund Freud, lightbulbs, and games that make him think of creativity.
00:20 - Rachel reveals the topic with such gusto!00:50 - Rachel passes on the first question and then pleads the fifth 03:00 - “Body by Frost” started with a viral TikTok video  06:00 - They are called “jib-bits” (and they are trademarked)07:00 - Creative vs. artistic 10:00 - Rachel’s mom is the Helen Young Frost, renown quilter14:30 - A lesson in American Sign Language and signing songs17:19 - “Deaf” or “hard of hearing” is not offensive 20:42 - Fallacies and Freud 23:42 - The interesting Astrology book title25:53 - Rachel’s need and opportunity struggle with creativity 29:10 - Tom the trickster34:08 - Two stories about boxes of stinky garbage35:47 - “What’s the deal with lightbulbs?”38:42 - “No, she’s a lawyer”, back to lightbulbs and it’s not Benjamin Franklin41:23 - Innovation versus creativity43:30 - Creative writing and “The Vagina Monologues”46:11 - The hookers and the honor system 47:20 - Rachel cheats in the Sims in the name of creativity 50:37 - Ben’s story about his friend Michaela and the Sims  52:38 - “Brain Age” and typing games 54:50 - The cake and the companion cube 56:30 - A brief history of rhythm games 59:26 - Ben loves Katamari Damacy!01:02:26 - Rachel’s video game conversations with her students01:07:28 - “Boring but nice,” and the last question01:12:20 - Closing thoughts on creativity

After some pre-show lunch, Ben and Sammi talk about the what the word substance means to them.  Ben goes to the UK, buys New Order albums and acts like an ignorant American at the amusement park.  Sammi talks about the substance of people and things.  Then she shares her struggles and triumphs dealing with substance addiction.  The conversation then moves to video games and haptics.  It gets a little naughty at the end, but Sammi insists that you Google it.
00:20 - Sammi and Ben and the vegan Sonoran Hot Dogs02:22 - Substance, but “…next time, the word ranch” 05:10 - Ben’s “ignorant American kids” amusement park story06:40 - Talking about 80s new wave music10:25 - The Depeche Mode concert story and Sammi talks about the substance of a person13:35 - Mercury not coffee and has Sammi ever done Tai Chi 15:05 - Folding space17:00 - Sammi talks about “Squid Game,” and Ben talks about “Only Murders in the Building”26:46 - Sammi shares her drug and alcohol abuse stories31:30 - Celebrating sobriety and no raves34:45 - A solid support system is essential, and music helps37:04 - ICD 6C51.0 and 6C51.1; a discussion about video game addiction, abuse and disease 41:45 - Babies operating iPads and online social interactions45:15 - Sammi loves Skyrim, COD WW2 and narative  47:08 - The Assassin’s Creed franchise 49:11 - Ben hates walking on ice in games 51:05 - “Open world games have more substance than FPSs” 53:40 - Ben talks Horizon: Zero Dawn  54:35 - Haptic feedback rumblings in arcades and at home01:00:15 - A discussion about vibrators and sex robots01:01:35 - The future of haptics in video games, VR, and real life applications 01:05:59 - Sammi’s final thoughts on the word01:07:00 - Closing the show… “GOOGLE IT!”

Cheyenne joins Ben this week to talk about the word Achievement.  Ben shares facts on scouting, movies and how he amassed his sewing kit fortune.  Cheyenne asks about knots and wants a badge for building traps.  They both share stories about how uncomfortable it was going door to door in their youth.  A discussion on dumb and satisfactory game achievements ensues.  Ben thinks he knows what the first video game achievement was.  Cheyenne shares her definition of time traveling and opinions on why she doesn’t use exploits.
00:20 - Ben and Cheyenne: “Achievement Unlocked!”01:55 - “… in Sans Serif font,” and Ben’s hot take on the US educational system03:35 - Tiny house talk and Earthships06:30 - Cheyenne is not a knot person but wants to build traps09:34 - The Big Lebowski; the Dude is a real person 12:24 - Nathan Arizona or Jim Click?13:18 - Philip Seymour Hoffman and Natalie Wood 17:45 - Exploring the definition of the word achievement19:29 - Cheyenne plays devil’s advocate and has a pose picked out for graduation23:36 - “What is the escape velocity of the graduation cap?” 24:37 - Ben amasses his sewing kit fortune27:25 - Going door to door is uncomfortable as a tweenager29:37 - Ben’s paper route, and Cheyenne says “do people read papers?!”32:04 - Reward yourself and Ben’s a Double Fine fanboy34:54 - Sixteen years later…36:16 - Pointless achievements and dumb trophies 41:42 - Ben is mixed on his opinion of trophies and achievements 43:38 - Cheyenne and Stardew Valley45:28 - Ben and Cheyenne ponder; “What makes a good achievement in video games?”47:23 - Ben’s achievement origin hypothesis… Atari 2600 and Activision PATCHES! 49:20 - A short PSA about gamertags. 51:43 - Cheyene’s sewing kit callback and thoughts on Gamerscore 55:31 - Cheyene’s thoughts on speed runs and using game exploits 59:15 - A definition of “time traveling” for Norah01:03:01 - Cheyenne’s parting thoughts on achievements and trophies

Fan of the show, Eric is in the “studio” this week with Ben and the “pod-cats”.  They are champing at the bit to talk about the word “adaptation” (even the cats), but first they answer a question about “Easter eggs”.  The conversation goes to some interesting places before getting to video games and what is recognized as the worst movie to video game adaptation so far.  Ben comes up with Norah’s PERFECT gamertag and Eric talks about his “Middle Earth” obsession. 
00:20 - Ben and Eric introduce this week’s word… “adaptation”00:33 - Clapping for syllables and “What is an Easter egg?”04:30 - Nerd credit and sports nerds07:20 - Eric’s thoughts on his meaning of the word adaptation12:10 - Eric and his father’s fascination with mountain climbers17:15 - Ben’s first remote control story and a weird question about biological adaptation22:40 - Ben opens up about his social anxiety in very large groups and his strategy 24:00 - The movie Adaptation is old enough to drink so… spoilers or whatever29:44 - The definition of the word pastiche and Ben knows two types of orchids33:00 - Police Squad 34:40 - Movies that were made in to video games; Eric loved Activision’s Spiderman 239:25 - “Proto Incredible Spider Hulk Type” and the Punisher game42:25 - The Red Dead Redemption “boomerang bug”45:00 - Spiderman, Batman Arkham Asylum and Insomniac’s games47:00 - Eric absolutely loves Tolkien’s Middle Earth universe and games51:00 - The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay  52:40 - Eric mentions the ET Atari 2600 game and Ben can’t pronounce Alamogordo58:50 - Norah’s gamertag 01:01:50 - Lucky Wander Boy by D.B.Weiss01:03:40 - Ben compares video game adaptations to cover songs 01:10:20 - Ben blames George R R Martin01:10:50 - Video game adaptations coming to Netflix01:12:20 - Eric and Ben’s thoughts on remastered games01:13:50 - Arcade Games made from movie properties 01:15:54 - Ben and Eric signing off 

Evan joins Ben this week to discuss maps.  Ben recites his map related research findings and tells a cool Google Maps story.  Evan confesses that she is bad at directions.  At one point the conversation moves to pizza for some reason.  Evan and Ben both love Namco’s Mappy!  What are “trap streets”?  What makes a great video game map?  Tune in and find out!
00:20 - Introducing your hosts Ben and Evan00:38 - “Two words that don’t rhyme” and Dora03:00 - Has Evan ever used a paper map? …Google Maps?07:28 - Ben’s cool Google Maps story09:45 - Snapchat improvements in relation to Geography and being social 12:30 - Cooking with Paris on Netflix (and her age is revealed)15:22 - Origami with maps, more about paper maps, and giving directions 20:00 - Taco Bell and cultural appropriation opinions 21:20 - The start of a VERY long conversation about condiments and then pizza 28:55 - “Let’s get back to maps” and Evan gives directions 30:00 - Trap streets35:40 - Yikes!  “It only takes one murderer…”37:05 - The sport of Orienteering, the Amazing Race and escape rooms40:55 - The arcade game Mappy and what the translation means in Japanese 43:55 - Games where maps are very important; Evan educates Ben in the ways of Minecraft47:50 - “A good legend” and notable map experiences in games50:20 - Q*Bert and convincing Evan that she has to play Horizon: Zero Dawn51:55 - Evan can’t do Star Wars; Ben sees Star Wars in the 70s55:22 - Evan talks about playing “Alien: Isolation” 56:45 - What makes an effective map in a game?1:00:04 - Closing thoughts on maps

Cheyenne talks about the important choices in her life and Ben talks about meat, instant coffee, and Consumer Reports.  Cheyenne loves choice based games almost as much as Ben loves podcasting, but they both love BioWare games.  And don’t forget the closing words of wisdom!
00:20 - Ben and Cheyenne are you hosts/contestants this week00:55 - “Questions from my aunt” about re-specification04:10 - The word choice06:18 - Cheyenne’s dream job 07:42 - Kicking puppies for science 09:55 - Beef and instant coffee13:28 - Norah’s buying patterns and rapid fire choice questions16:00 - Cheyenne’s upbringing, Biology class, and life choices22:05 - Fatboy Slim’s “Weapon of Choice” video and Consumer Reports26:33 - Baby socks and a blowtorch 27:33 - Cheyenne loves Black Mirror30:38 - Black Mirror: Bandersnatch spoiler alert (up to 31:15)34:46 - Cheyenne enjoys science fiction and the Mass Effect franchise 37:00 - Mass Effect 3 ending discussion - you can’t satisfy everyone 42:47 - The Life is Strange franchise and similarities to Detroit: Become Human44;27 - BioWare game nerd fest 202150:58 - Ben goes “super retro” - old school arcade game choices53:31 - Character creation choices and creating the narrative 58:32 - Too many choices in games01:00:30 - Mom’s child raising advice and Cheyenne’s management style01:03:18 - “Karma is a bitch”

First, Evan and Ben get in to an emotional discussion about navigating the changes in their lives.  Then Ben forces Evan to watch a SNL skit, and they talk about reality TV.  Rounding out the episode is a conversation about what games they are currently playing and how they would change them if they could. 
00:20 - Ben introducing his cohost this week, Evan00:36 - “We’re not talking about coinage”… yet03:10 - The delta04:37 - To Evan, change is adrenaline06:51 - Evan shares how the death of her mother affected her growth12:38 - Ben shares how the death of his father ultimately led to inspiration17:08 - “Time may change me, but I can’t trace time.” ~ David Bowie18:58 - “You’re entering a new phase of your life.” ~ Ed Cheknis20:41 - More to come21:14 - Panic, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and change25:27 - Happy Birthday Evan!28:01 - Flux is life28:53 - The coin shortage well theory30:36 - A definition of “change”31:22 - “First CityWide Change Bank 1” SNL skit and bathroom interlude33:13 - From Craig Ferguson to “changing your clothes” to reality television 38:53 - Candid Camera?41:12 - Arcades and ZOMBIES!44:43 - Evan gushes over the “Last of Us” franchise (some spoilers)50:57 - Ben drank Cordyceps tea once and has a RPG pet peeve53:58 - Evan is playing Assassin’s Creed and has some suggestions 56:40 - If you could change anything about the game you are currently playing…01:07:12 - How do you purchase your games?01:09:17 - Evan’s parting words of wisdom

Episode 9 - Magnetism
Ben is in Chicago with his podcast in a bag!  Aunt Norah explains magnetism and why our family is weird; Ben teaches Norah about video games.
00:10 - Your hosts the week are Ben and (Aunt) Norah 01:30 - Magnetic personality03:47 - Norah reiterates that she taught 6th Grade04:25 - Bret Easton Ellis, refrigerator magnets and Grandma 09:40 - Mango needs magnetic childproof cabinet locks11:25 - “Was it about magnets?”14:00 - Stay away from electrons at parties18:09 - Lightning and golf 20:56 - The Boomers got the first Wooly Willie’s22:51 - Is weirdness genetic?25:47 - Twilight Zone pinball and the Magna-save28:45 - Degaussing at the arcade 33:33 - “Knock on Wood”36:45 - Pinball was illegal in Chicago until 197639:09 - Ben explains the game Portal to Norah41:05 - Magrunner: Dark Pulse 43:26 - Super Magnetic Neo on the Sega Dreamcast45:05 - H.P. Lovecraft with magnets47:36 - Norah is interested in playing Hitman50:01 - Violence in…52:03 - “May I call you Chris?”53:13 - “We’ll see you next time when we’re going to be talking about…”