Bad Philosophy

Time is hard! It ebbs and flows and sometimes just goes off on its own without even telling you. No one knows this better than everyone’s favorite Doctor, of course. But is Doctor Who a religion? We recently discovered PBS Idea Channel, who has, conveniently enough, asked this very question. Kevin and I had some thoughts on this, as well as some (completely unrelated) ruminations on Facebook, memory and identity. Oh, and while we’re on the subject of Facebook and science fiction, you might want to unfriend these people. So grab your sonic screwdriver, update your status, and have a listen!

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This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage:
“Doctor Who” Ultimate Title Mix

Questions Answered in This Week’s FormSqueeze:
What ARE you guys?

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atheism, authenticity, censorship, Christianity, Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, cosmology, David Tennant, definition, Doctor Who, Emile Durkheim, Facebook, history, identity, Instagram, journalism, Kevin, Matt Smith, memory, My Little Pony, obscenity, Pastafarianism, PBS Idea Channel, poststructuralism, PRI, Prometheus, radio, RadioLab, religion, religious exclusivism, Richard Dawkins, science, science fiction, scientology, Star Trek, Star Wars, Stephen, This American Life, truth

When James Bond isn’t busy fighting himself nowadays, he’s busy being the blandest (or the boldest) he’s ever been in the franchise. But how much “Bond” is too much for Bond? If the last 50 years have shown us anything, it’s that the perfect mix of Bond-i-ness may be more complex than shaking a martini. After seeing the unfortunately-named Skyfall, Kevin and I had some thoughts to share on this beloved series. So put on your best suit and hop in an Aston Martin, it’s time for some Philosophy. Bad Philosophy.

Oh, and if you’re looking for Episode 127… let’s just say it got “lost in space.” On a completely unrelated note, FTL is a fantastic game. You should play it. Seriously.

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This Weeks Post-Show Song Pimpage:
“Spy Hard” by Weird Al Yankovic

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343 Studios, 50 Years of James Bond The Movie, artificial intelligence, Bond vs. Bond, Bungie, Casino Royale, Christopher Nolan, cinematography, Cloud Atlas, Dan Arieli, Daniel Craig, David Fincher, David Lynch, Die Another Day, Disney, ethics, film, Gore Verbinski, Halo 4, Inception, James Bond, Judy Dench, Kevin, komodo dragon, LucasFilm, Marathon, movies, ONI, Pierce Brosnan, Pirates of the Caribbean, Predictably Irrational, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, Star Wars, Stephen, The Avengers, The Wachowskis

To much fanfare, the world got a new time travel movie recently. Looper did alright at the box office, but Kevin and I expected something a bit different from the movie we got. Despite annoying police helicopters and a plague of mosquitos, the two of us recorded our thoughts on the film immediately after seeing it this past Looper Tuesday (sorry Kevin, I had to use the joke) in the beautiful open air of The Domain. The Wachowskis have a new TV show, spaceship simulators are AWESOME, and Daikatana is still funny all by itself. It’s BF time!

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This Week’s Post-Show Song Pimpage:
“Everything You Know is Wrong” by Weird Al Yankovic

Questions Answered in This Week’s FormSqueeze:
Deconstruction is cynicism?
Are you bored?

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advertising, Brave, Bruce Willis, Daikatana, deconstruction, Django Unchained, ethics, film, Hayden Christianson, Hollywood, Hustle, Inception, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jumper, Kevin, Kickstarter, Looper, Lord of the Rings, marketing, Mars Trilogy, Michael Bay, morality, movies, neo noir, Peter Jackson, post-structuralism, Quentin Tarantino, Rian Johnson, Sense 8, Stephen, telekinesis, The Avengers, The Hobbit, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, The Muppets, The Vault, The Wachowskis, time travel, transgender

“Tim is off on a search to rescue the Princess.
She has been snatched by a horrible and evil monster.
This happened because Tim made a mistake.”

So begins Braid, a game that captivated me completely just a short time ago. It stretches the bounds of the traditional platformer, interweaving gameplay and story in a way few video games manage so elegantly. Dead though the author may be, I value Jonathan Blow’s extensive thoughts on his masterpiece, so we rallied the troops and got indie game hobbyist Adam Easterling, alongside aspiring game industry pundit Britton Peele and gallbladder-less Kevin Saunders to put Braid into vaguely philosophical context, among many other things. So grab your Move, pull the leg off a giant spider, and get ready for some Mad Beats brought to you in beautiful STEREO sound, it’s BF time!

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This Week’s Post-Show Song Pimpage:
“Maenem” by Jami Sieber

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Achron, Adam, Braid, Brink, Britton, Citizen Kane, Commander Kean, Dallas Morning News, Dark Souls, economics, film noir, game design, Gamespot, Guild Wars 2, heaven and hell, Humble Bundle, indie games, InfoCom, Jazz Jackrabbit, Johann Sebastian Joust, John Carmack, Jonathan Blow, Joystiq, Just Cause 2, Kevin, LiMBO, Megaman, Memento, Myst, Mystery Men, Narbacular Drop, Ninja Gaiden, Papa y Yo, plants vs zombies, PlayStation Move, Portal, Prince of Persia, Project Greenlight, QuakeCon, Quantum Conundrum, Retro Computing Roundtable, Riven, SimCity 2000, Skyrim, Spec Ops: The Line, Steam, Stephen, storytelling, Super Mario 3D Land, Tag, The Sixth Sense, The Walking Dead, time, Uncharted, University of Texas, video games, Wolfenstein, Zork