The Book Was Better Podcast Episode 64: Howard the Duck (with guest host Courtney Coulson!)

This week we tackle one of my personal childhood favourites. You hate it. I love it. Hells yeah, Howard the Duck! After refusing to do this episode multiple times, guest host Courtney Coulson returns under much duress and does her plucky best to talk about anything other than the book at hand!

This is a novel that seems to have so little faith in its source material that it constantly veers off on wild, nonsensical, audaciously padded tangents, and we’ve recorded a loving tribute to that meandering style with this equally nonsensical, well-padded 90 mins of show. Listen to this one at your own risk!

You can download it right now from the official site!

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Rocktober: My Seven Favourite Fictional Bands and Their Songs!

WOOO! ROCKTOBER! THANK YOU INTERNET, YOU'VE BEEN A GREAT AUDIENCE! Yes, it is time for me to rock out and add something constructive to the Rocktober mix! And seeing as how I don't really live in the real world, why not celebrate my tenuous grasp of reality by listening to my Top Seven Fictionial Bands and Their Songs! There's an exhaustive list to choose from, and not everything is readily available on youtube, but here's what I've haphazardly slapped together for your aural pleasure. (Guffaw!)... Presented in no particular order...

1. Zit Remedy (Degrassi Junior High), performing Everybody Wants Something.
If you're as old and despondent as I am, you might remember this home-grown outfit from Canada - the Degrassi sensation, the one and only Zit Remedy, who later became The Zits. Because it turns out there is no remedy. This three-piece consisted of sleazy, hat-wearing, opportunist Joey Jeremiah; the slender man-whore Snake; and the confusingly not-in-a-wheelchair Wheels. Note how at the end of the clip it is revealed that the whole thing is not about the music, but about Joey trying to impress the pants off uber-hottie Caitlin. Respect. How rock 'n' roll is that!

I have six more of these gems waiting for you after the jump!

Under the Man-croscope: the Dubious Merit of Trading Cards.

Imagine the mighty Man-croscope! A highly technical device whose stern gaze turns upon all that you loved and accepted as a child, and heavily scrutinizes it with the steely, unwavering, eyes of a man! Everything you thought you knew will crumble to bitter, nostalgic dust - powerless under the Man-croscope's adult glare!

This week I recklessly turn the Man-croscope on trading cards! You know, those small rectangular pieces of cardboard, randomly packed with a stick of rubbery gum, that you would obsessively and bewilderingly collect as a kid. You couldn't get enough of them! You had to have the whole set! You wasted all your pocket money! You crazy shit!

I collected a ton of trading cards as a kid and a young teen. So while we deconstruct this odd phenomenon, let's take a look at some of the few remaining cards I have left, from my own personal "collection". Like this highly-prized collector's item that I photographed earlier:

I think this card is insinuating that he crapped himself.

I'm not even joking with you. These are all photos of my cards, that I own right now. Check out more of my startling collection after the jump and we'll nitpick things until they're no fun any more!