The Two Vague Podcast

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…” 

Ben and Chris talk about the word vision this week.  You’re assignment before listening to the episode is to look up the Foreigner - “Head Games” album cover to provide context to Chris’ reaction. Chris “makes it weird,” freaks out, and then gushes about the FPS Alien versus Predator franchise.  Coincidentally, Ben tells his Weird Al story again and then explains why he enjoys the overall experience in a specific Far Cry 3 mission.  
Episode correction:- The song “Double Vision” was on the ‘Double Vision’ album, not the ‘4’ album.
00:20 - Your hosts this week are Ben and Chris talking about the word “vision”00:32 - Chris sings David Bowie then says, “too soon”00:58 - Chris announces the arrival of Norah’s bag02:22 - What is the game “Seaman?”06:28 - “Her name is Dave”07:58 - Vernacular at the bait shop10:50 - The astral plane  13:39 - Regular 2VP listeners are hearing it again, but Chris is hearing it for the first time16:23 - “What is it like to be a session player as an accordionist?”20:29 - The ‘Head Games’ album cover and Lisanne Falk23:39 - Wearing glasses and Chris’ radial keratotomy experience28:19 - The best pun of the episode32:16 - The Tick!39:58 - Ewok knife fight and Data East’s “Captain America and The Avengers”44:08 - “Detective Vision”49:30 - “In space, no one can hear you polka”52:59 - Obscured vision in games is mostly annoying and some crime folks56:45 - A vision, a scope, and a plan 59:52 - Ben’s confusion; Outer Worlds and No Man’s Sky 01:03:10 - FIN

2VP - Episode 7 - Evolution
For the word “evolution,” Ben and Andrew take a circuitous route on their way to talking about video games, but as a special treat, there IS Andrew’s nigh famous catchphrase at the end!
0:20 - Ben and Andrew are your hosts!0:33 - Evolution, Neanderthals, and tapas  2:18 - Teaching actual science in schools6:07 - Carl Sagan’s Cosmos7:44 - Velcro10:18 - Colossal Cave Adventure11:48 - Definitely not Ghostbusters16:10 - Devo and Ben’s American Bandstand memory18:44 - Do attitudes evolve?20:22 - Andrew’s Two Vague Show callback - Bruce Willis24:18 - Trying to remember the current host of the Tonight Show26:12 - “… and in 30 years I’ll grow a beard”28:58 - Poorly designed hamster balls30:05 - Andromeda Strain with… dinosaurs, spaceships, or gorillas 32:10 - Why talk about video games when you can talk about Goldblum?36:45 - A brief history of Ben’s video game consoles40:09 - “You could type at people!”41:23 - Andrew and Ben reminisce about music for nearly 10 minutes 51:09 - “Maybe we should get back to evolution…”53:20 - Ben confuses “Ghost Dog” with “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken”55:23 - Andrew’s Ralph Furley reprise 57:23 - The baby, a beer, and catching a baseball01:01:55 - Is the evolution of video games going toward VR?01:06:33 - Andrew minored in Simlish and making time for gaming01:12:30 - Andrew gives Detective Pikachu a waxing gibbous 01:13:04 - Andrew’s closing catchphrase 

2VP - Episode 6 - Hair
     This week, Ben and Chris are first answering a question about  the Spy episodes, followed by telling their stories related to hair and making things weird.  Be prepared for tangents and tangles galore on the way to the video games(-ish) discussion. 
0:20 - Your hosts this week, Ben and Chris0:40 - The subject is hair1:50 - Questions from my aunt and the archivists4:33 - Why no “Bond girl” discussion?7:08 - Bond’s children and Taran Killam’s comic “The Illegitimates”11:50 - Chris doesn’t listen to the show, followed by stalling 14:10 - Chris doesn’t like hair, but the beard is okay16:30 - Chris doesn’t know what a compliment is on Ben’s planet19:54 - Hairdressers and Oil City, PA24:48 - The diversion28:08 - “Bad Hair” and Chris’ confusion30:18 - Why is hair so badly done in video games?32:18 - A simple solution… full motion video36:08 - John Rhys-Davies impressions38:05 - Guilty Gear and Nintendo baseball43:14 - “… the very last city”45:46 - Chris’ PSA48:00 - Bridges?

2VP - Episode 5 - Ability
     Ben is joined by guest co-host Andrew this week to talk about the word ability, navigating life as an autistic person, and Andrew’s fleeting obsession with Rise of Empires.  For more information about Andrew’s assorted shenanigans, check out www.partlyrobot.com, @partlyrobot on Instagram, and @PartlyRobot on Twitter.
0:20 - Introducing your hosts Ben and Andrew0:38 - Ability7:30 - Andrew’s realizations in the late 80s9:46 - “Around 1992 in the world of psychology…”14:18 - Substitute teaching in special education programs25:41 - Oh, how the English love Andrew30:43 - “Are you taller?”33:22 - Gold37:18 - Autism and overlap with gender identity41:55 - Alfa, Uniform “… give me back my gold watch!”42:49 - A non-gendered pilot of a gendered meat robot47:32 - AOL and chat 50:18 - Ability vs. aptitude56:25 - Make babies and sell them rock n’ roll records 1:00:23 - Game name removed until they send Ben a check1:04:35 - Nationally profiling 1:08:44 - Ben’s out of touch parent moment 1:14:04 - “I recognize those Spanish cuss words…”1:17:07 - Getting that message out there1:20:43 - Can / should games be made to be “autism accessible?”1:22:51 - How to feel old1:24:40 - Andrew’s wise words of wisdom to end the show

2VP - Episode 4 - Spy part 2
0:20 - Restarting the conversation - OSS1179:10 - Two dudes and aunt - recapping the favorite Bond actors 11:55 - Bond movie theme songs - the Thunderball submission from Johnny Cash14:05 - Chris’ baccarat and martini experiences in Las Vegas 17:55 - Back to Bond theme songs19:55 - “You Only Move Twice” and Ben forgets Albert Brooks’ name22:00 - IOI’s Project 007 and the Hitman franchise28:15 - Chris’ wish list… for the Bond game36:21 - Ben’s list - putting on the gloves of wish list excavation37:10 - Jetpacks are dumb!43:52 - Gadgets or question marks?49:02 - Original theme and opening sequence51:09 - Bundle up and be your own “Bond”53:50 - Romance?57:01 - Is SPECTRE necessary in the game?1:01:59 - Closing thoughts
Episode corrections: 
After Jean Bruce’s death in 1963, his wife (not his daughter) Josette Bruce continued to write 143 OSS 117 novels until retiring in 1985.  Their daughter Martine and her husband continued the series starting in 1987 and wrote an additional 23 books about OSS 117. 
The Simpsons Episode “You Only Move Twice” is the second of Season 8.

2VP - Episode 3 - "Spy" part 1 of Chris’ 2 part SPOOKTACULAR!
Disclaimer: We have the boom situation corrected for part 2 (pro tip - missing sock collection makes excellent sound baffle.  Crinkle sounds, compliments of Mango the podcat.  Thank you for your continued patience while I work on improving the audio quality.
0:00 - The 2VP theme song0:20 - Introducing the hosts Ben and Chris0:34 - The word… spy3:10 - MI6 has some budget oversight issues5:00 - Top Secret RPG8:20 - RPG hot take (from a middle aged white dude)10:10 - Disco Elysium is a weird game15:50 - Elliot Gould interlude19:00 - Goofus and Gallant22:00 - SpyTV shows and movies and a shout out to the “For Your Reference” podcast30:10 - Impressions31:40 - Ian Fleming and Bond; incredibly racist and sexist36:00 - Bond actor rankings43:38 - Chris’ son introduction of the Golden Eye remaster44:40 - A series of awful sounding closers

2VP Episode 2 - Inclusion
Thank you Kenny for joining me as my first guest host of the Two Vague Podcast!
0:00 - Two Vague Podcast theme song0:20 - Today’s hosts… Ben and Kenny0:31 - In honor of Pride month, the word is “inclusion”1:40 - Ice cream and chili  3:25 - Gender identity and inclusion8:52 - Kenny shaved their head last year17:18 - Ben is stopping at the Q21:08 - NEWS FLASH: Arizona is hot22:40 - Art talk27:52  - Learning and gender identity30:52 - Video games - the Sims35:19 - Cyberpunk 2077 and their “misses and hits” in regard to gender40:54 - The sandbox game and why it is enjoyable to some44:13 - Dontnod Entertainment’s “Tell Me Why” - the first trans male protagonist49:57 - Krem, Bloodhound, Fl4k and buy Kenny an Xbox One62:28 - Kenny thanks me for including them and we “sign off”

Episode 1 - friendship
Disclaimer:  This was the first time using our new boom microphones, so you will hear occasional USCSS Nostromo / “One ping only” sounds.  In future episodes you should hear less of those noises as the springs have now been baffled adequately.  Thank you for your patience and enjoy the show!
Hype Songs:
Ben: “So Excited” - Ranking Roger
Chris: “X Gon’ Give It to Ya” - DMX
 
0:00 - Two Vague Podcast theme song
0:20 - Today’s hosts… Ben and Chris
0:54 - Housekeeping on Episode 1? 
1:27 - Questions from… again with the water levels
3:26 - The word is friendship
6:34 - Our friendship
14:56 - ASMR warning
17:18 - Vaguely Spader-esque
20:08 - Alpha Flight spoilers and Ben’s view on spoilers
26:26 - “Think of the listeners Ben.”
32:20 - Ben’s impressions kill comedy
36:56 - The turnip and no sandbox games for Chris
41.53 - The 100 baby challenge 
44:17 - Chris recalls touching moments of friendship in video game narratives 
48:32 - “Kaidan is a walking yawn!”
50:17 - Mortal Kombat
55:10 - M.Bison, Balrog, Vega and Chris’ disbelief 
58:04 - “Now you're just saying words.”

Two Vague Podcast - Episode 0 - Musical 
 
Disclaimer: Chris and I sat down to test the equipment and record a promo, but it turned into a mini episode about the word musical.  On “normal” episodes there will be a discussion about what the word means for each participant (1UP and 2UP), followed by a video game centric discussion.  Instead of throwing the footage in a vault somewhere, we decided to release it just ahead of the full episode drop date of 6/23/21 to give you a general idea of what to expect from our show.  We hope you enjoy Episode 0 of the Two Vague Podcast!
 
0:00 - Two Vague Podcast theme song
0:18 - Brief introduction of your hosts Ben and Chris
0:39 - The word musical / Ben sings horribly 
1:27 - Starlight Express
4:03 - Switching gears / video games in the style of a musical
6:37 - “Way better than Mannheim Steamroller?”
8:55 - Water levels
10:28 - “Speaking of water…”
12:12 - Weights and measures conversions
12:49 - The missus calls
13:10 - Better or worse?
14:18 - The Mannheim Steamroller PC game
15:34 - “… an example of our show”