FPcast for March 27, 2017: Oz Comic Con/Beauty and the Beast!

This week's super-size episode retells our adventures at Oz Comic Con, including an interview with Brian O'Halloran and Marilyn Ghigliotti of cult classic Clerks! Plus we finally get to review Beauty and the Beast. And there's a whole heap of other stuff too, like what on earth happened to Cyborg's nob?

Download here! (click to stream, right-click to save)

And be sure to SUBSCRIBE to us on iTunes because we do this every week! And join the discussion in our friendly Facebook group! And you can now get bonus episodes by subscribing/supporting us on Patreon!

24 Hour Comic Book Day!

Well, it’s that time of year again. The 24 Hour Comics Day Challenge is going to hit the world on October 4th and people are already starting to get excited about what they are going to create.

Our very own Luke Milton kicked off the Perth based event that has now been taken over by our friends and fellow pop culture enthusiasts Gianni and Christopher. You can listen to Luke’s thought’s on the event on this weeks podcast!

Those who have volunteered as tribute this year will create a 24 for page comic in 24 hours! It’s no mean feat but it’s an incredibly rewarding venture, getting the creative juices flowing and making some new friends in the process.

For those of you in Perth who’d like to take part you can sign up here => 2014 24 Hour Comics Day Registration

The Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts Tower (at University of Western Australia’s Nedland’s Campus) will host 25 participants on site, but if you’d prefer to participate from the comfort of your own home or by hosting your own comic creation party you can get involved by posting your progress on social media using #24HCDPerth hashtag!

The challenge officially runs from 10.00am Saturday 4th October to 10.00am Sunday 5th October 2014, so now is the time to get thinking about getting involved or passing the message on to someone that you think would or should do this. You can always support them with company and snacks!

Feeling keen? Want a bit more information to get hyped? Follow me under the cut for a chat with local organiser Gianni and feel free to ask some of your own questions.

FPcast! The Fruitless Pursuits Podcast for July 28th 2014: Golden 50th Episode!

This week we celebrate our golden 50th Episode! We review The Rock's Hercules, talk about the trailers including Horns and 50 Shades of Grey. Chat early SDCC news, reminisce on the beginning of Fruitless Pursuits, and wrap up by throwing in some celebrity interviews from our archives! Reserve your place at our sparsely populated party!

Download here! (Click to stream, right-click to save)

And be sure to SUBSCRIBE to us on iTunes because we do this every week! And join the discussion in our friendly Facebook group!

FPcast! The Fruitless Pursuits Podcast for July 15th 2014! Sestosterone!

In the interest of reaching as many people as possible, this week's episode also includes our 20 minute chat with Greg Sestero, best known as Mark in the awful/wonderful cult classic The Room, and author of the riveting behind-the-scenes tell-all, The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, The Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made.

Plus we review the monkey madness of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and agent Courtney Coulson joins Luke for a chat about the first season of Penny Dreadful. This is what your ears have been craving for!

Download here! (Click to stream, right-click to save)

And be sure to SUBSCRIBE to us on iTunes because we do this every week! And join the discussion in our friendly Facebook group!

FPcast! The Fruitless Pursuits podcast for June 23rd 2014! Perth Supanova!

This week we share our many adventures from massive pop culture expo, Supanova, including our three-on-a-couch interview with Battlestar Galactica's Jamie Bamber! Plus the joys of meeting Rose McGowan and John Barrowman, listening to how Agents of SHIELD's Ming-Na Wen kicks ass, artist/toy designer extraordinaire Ashley Wood, cosplay, shopping and MORE! And if all that wasn't enough, we wrap things up by discussing the season finale of Game of Thrones! Shove this into the welcoming holes on the side of your head!

Download here! (click to stream, right-click to save)

And be sure to SUBSCRIBE to us on iTunes because we do this every week! And join the discussion in our friendly Facebook group!

FPcast! The Fruitless Pursuits Podcast for March 31st 2014! Oz Comic Con Perth!

In this extra huge episode we discuss our experiences at Oz Comic Con Perth, including interviews with puppetry legend Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar, Salacious Crumb, Howard the Duck and more!) and voice acting legend Rob Paulsen (Pinky and the Brain, TMNT, Animaniacs and more!). Plus we saw Shannen Doherty, Jewel Staite, Dean O'Gorman - hell, Jacinta even high-fived The Todd from Scrubs. We are sleep deprived and amped up and you have to listen to our crazy adventures or we will cry!

Download here! (click to stream, or right-click to save)

And BE SURE to SUBSCRIBE to us on iTunes because we do this every week!

Our Epic Interview With Voice Actor Rob Paulsen: Pinky and the Brain! Ninja Turtles! Animaniacs! Spaceballs! And More!

Rob Paulsen is a legend. His voice has appeared in nearly 400 productions, spanning just about every franchise you can think of. You may have grown up with him as Raphael in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Pinky in Pinky and the Brain, Yakko Warner in Animaniacs, or perhaps you’ve heard him recently as The Riddler in the Lego Batman games, Donatello in the current incarnation of Turtles, or even popping up in The Dark Knight Returns. You may even be aware of his wildly successful podcast, Talkin’ Toons, in which Rob frequently chats with the world’s most influential voice actors.

Rob will be appearing at this weekend’s Oz Comic Con Melbourne (July 6th and 7th despite what I say on the recording) and although we won’t be able to get there, we were able to submit a host of questions to Rob, resulting in the epic interview that you’re about to hear. Seriously, this thing is almost like a podcast in itself, running at around 35 minutes, so make yourself comfortable, or download it and listen to it while you go. Rob offers up plenty of honest insights, funny stories, and gives us a taste of some of our favourite characters. You really don’t want to miss this - I promise it’s one of the coolest things we’ve ever done on the site!

I’ll explain it all, and you’ll hear directly from the mad genius that is Rob Paulsen, by clicking the link below...

CLICK TO STREAM AUDIO! (or right-click to SAVE!)

Perth Supanova 2013: Interview with Greg Cipes! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Clone Wars! Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll!

Greg Cipes is a total rock star. He's Michelangelo in the current Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, and has a wealth of credits both as a voice and on the screen. Getting the chance to interview him at Supanova was such a thrill because from the moment he walks in you can tell he's the coolest guy in the room (even though there was just two of us). Greg has a wonderful warm, energy, is extremely funny, and I wish we had a photo from the event because he was the best dressed person at the entire convention. He looked awesome! And I'm especially intrigued by the future projects he hints at.

Many thanks to Greg for letting me hold him up so long! I was so fascinated by what he was saying, and so comfortable chatting, that I completely lost track of what else was going on. Listen for yourself, and you will instantly become one of Greg's disCIPESles. (Sorry)...


Click here to stream audio (or right-click to save!)

Perth Supanova 2013: Interview with Clare Kramer! Buffy! GeekNation! Helicopters!

Can you folks believe that at this weekend's Supanova expo in Perth, I actually got to sit with and interview Buffy the Vampire God Clare Kramer, also known for her role in Bring it On, AND she runs GeekNation  a far better pop culture site than this one!

Clare could not have been friendlier or more welcoming, so before we lose you to her fantastic site, please listen to our very special interview...

Click here to stream audio (or right-click to save!)

Perth Supanova 2013: Interview with Lauren Tom! Futurama, Bad Santa and More!

Now here's the really exciting part! Thanks to the team at Supanova I had the opportunity to speak to the extremely talented, bubbly and delightful Lauren Tom! We all know her as Amy Wong in the long-running (then halting, then running again) hit Futurama, but I most adore her as Lois in my favourite Christmas movie of all time, Bad Santa, where she was super determined to get that loofer!

But enough of my gushing and rambling! You can listen to me gush and ramble directly to Lauren by clicking below... (and I still don't know what you have to do to get into that Joy Luck Club!)

Click here to stream audio (or right-click to save!)

We talk to BioWare's Ben Gelinas - The World of Thedas, gaming, and Dragon Age!

Guys - this is ultra exciting. I had a chance to exchange a few emails with the very talented (and very tolerant) principal writer of Dragon Age: The World of Thedas, Ben Gelinas! 

Dragon Age 2 concept art 

Volume 1 of Dragon Age: The World of Thedas has been released, and among all the build up of E3 and the unveiling of a truly beautiful teaser for Dragon Age: Inquisition, the third installment of the Dragon Age franchise is back in the spotlight and the anticipation is palpable and and very, very exciting. For obvious reasons we aren't hassling Mr Gelinas about DA3, but we will be hassling him about everything else.

You might want to read our review of DA:WOT as well - over HERE!

Join me after the jump for some hardcore lore-ing. Worldbuilding enthusiasts celebrate!

Kickstart the Week: An Interview With Folk Singer Sofia Talvik

Back in 2008 or so, when Amie Street was a thing, I tripped up on a new album by a folk singer called Sofia Talvik. It was a new release of an album, Jonestown, and I instantly fell in love with the whole thing, and quickly sought out her back catalog. I've kept up with all the new releases since then, and I'm generally impatient as a fan for new music to come about.

This past week, Talvik launched a Kickstarter to fund a live album and book chronicling her year-long-plus tour around the United States. Hailing from Sweden, Talvik and her husband packed up shop, purchased an RV in Florida, and toured incessantly, visiting 37 states and performing hundreds of shows over the tour. As someone who was kicking himself for missing the tour, that there's a live chronicle of some of the moments is great, and that there's a book that will forever immortalize the experience is icing on the cake.

Sofia Talvik was kind enough to give us some of her time this week to talk about being an independent touring musician, about her experiences with crowdfunding, about the Kickstarter campaign, and plenty of other stuff. You can find her website here, and all her music is available as digital albums for the time being for only $5 (I personally recommend Street of Dreams and Florida, but they're all excellent), and she has a remix album available for free). You can also find her on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google+...if there's a website you can be on, she's on it. Thanks to Sofia Talvik again for talking with us!

Interview Time with Author/Creator/Columnist Matt Rossi

Last year, I read Matt Rossi's excellent Bottled Demon, which inspired a series of posts about things I had read in the book. Rossi is close to finishing his next book of essays and alternate histories, At Last, Atlantis, and was kind enough to spend some time answering some questions for us.

You can find Bottled Demon at Amazon for only $2.99 (and a free borrow for Prime members!), and Things That Never Were is still available via MonkeyBrain Books and may be coming in an ebook edition soon. His WoW Insider columns can be found at Joystiq, he has a personal blog at Wordpress, and he is active on Twitter via @MatthewWRossi. Our discussion about all sorts of things is beyond the jump.

Transforming Collections: An Interview With Philip Reed

Transforming Collections is Philip Reed's unofficial guide to 3rd party Transformers toys. Not to be confused with bootleg figures, these toys are all-new creations or simply additional parts to enhance an existing figure.

The book was fully funded on Kickstarter within it's first few days, but there are still 24 days to pledge and make the book bigger than ever. Fans of action figures, Transformers, designer toys, and customization will need to check this one out. It's a world that you might not even know exists.

Check out the Kickstarter project at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/102137316/transforming-collections-toy-reference-book. The book is only $15 for a physical copy and just $6 for a pdf. There are a few extra big rewards if you would like to contribute more to the project.

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You may know Philip as the COO of Steve Jackson Games (Munchkin, Ogre, Car Wars) or as the owner/writer at the toy news/review site BattleGrip.com. Now, we can soon add published author to his extensive resume.

We had a chance to talk to Philip about Transforming Collections, Kickstarter, and the toy industry. Click through the jump for the full interview, as well as plenty of photos of 3rd party Transformers.

An Interview With Author Amanda Mondoux - and a Book Giveaway!

A few months ago, I reviewed a new fantasy book, Forbidden Era, by Amanda Mondoux. The book is a well-done fantasy, and Mondoux is one of the many authors attempting the self-published route via Kindle/Nook/Smashwords etc.

Amanda Mondoux was kind enough to give us some time to talk about the book, writing, self-publishing, and cupcakes. That interview is after the jump.

Amanda was also kind enough to provide us with a giveaway - a print copy of Forbidden Era. There aren't a whole lot of these available, so this is a cool addition. Check the end of the interview for the details.

Anyway, enjoy the interview!

Interview: Noah Hathaway! From Neverending Story to Sushi Girl!

If you’re a child of the eighties then you probably best know actor Noah Hathaway for his role as fantasy ass-kicker Atreyu in The Neverending Story, the dark-maned boy hero who wasn’t afraid to shiv a wolf, and punch the void in the face to rescue a Princess. Good. Now forget every single thing that you think you know...

I am thrilled to report that the Noah Hathaway of 2012 is more kick-ass than ever! Covered in tattoos and brimming with power, Noah is a shot of adrenaline! I heard that he was starring in a very-soon-to-be-released gangster movie with Mark Hamill called Sushi Girl, which involves eating sushi off a naked woman. After watching the trailer I was desperate to talk to him about it!

Fortunately, thanks to an enthusiastic Noah and the team at Supanova, I got my chance! Be forewarned that the language is a little salty and extremely manly. Ladies, you might want to find something to fan yourself with while listening to this one.

Click the audio link below the picture to listen to our interview and hear about it all in Noah's own words!

Image: Jacinta Mathews.

I liked Noah instantly and we ended up chatting for a while after we stopped recording. Thank you so much for sharing this madness with us!

But we’re not going to stop there! Join me after the jump and we’ll watch the trailer for Sushi Girl together!

Interview: Natalia Tena! Game of Thrones and Molotov Jukebox!

I first saw Natalia Tena in her role as Nymphadora Tonks, the effervescent werewolf-shagging wizard with more hair colour changes than Ramona Flowers. Her appearances in the character-packed Harry Potter films are all too brief, but she manages to exude a focus and an energy that demands your attention. And it’s those same qualities and intensity that lured me to her character Osha in Game of Thrones (or to give it its full, official title: F**k Yeah Game of Thrones!), the fiery and enigmatic wilding woman who has traversed the line from attacker to protector.

But we’re really just scratching the surface. Those are the projects that you already know about, but there is far more to Nat than that. For example, did you already know about Nat’s incredible musical talents with her band Molotov Jukebox? I had the wonderful opportunity to chat to her thanks to the fine folk at this past weekend’s Supanova Pop Culture Expo and found out everything first-hand!

Click the audio player below the image to listen!

Image: Jacinta Mathews.
I wish we’d had video running because Nat has an endless supply of energy and her reactions were wildly animated. When we talked she was also wearing a lurid Back to the Future II Marty McFly colour-changing future cap that really helped set the mood. (We later spotted Nat and Alfie “Theon” Allen trying on large furry animal tails at a store. I'm hoping that these will be featured prominently in Series Three. "Did you pay the iron price for that fox tail?"). Thank you so much, Nat, for giving us your time! 

But let’s not stop there. Join me after the jump where we have more images and you can listen to Molotov Jukebox for yourself!

Interview: Voice Actress Jennifer Hale. Femshep and a Whole Lot More.

It's no secret that we adore the Mass Effect trilogy and that is in no small part to the stellar performance of our protagonist-of-choice, the female Commander Shepard, perhaps better known as FemShep. At this weekend's Supanova Pop Culture Expo I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity to have a quick chat with FemShep actress Jennifer Hale.

Even if you don't recognise her face, you have certainly heard her voice. Jennifer is extremely prolific and has lent her talents to a lot of things you love. She's also extremely warm and generous in person, but don't take my word for it, click on the audio player at the bottom of the image below and hear our conversation!

Thank you so much, Jennifer, and thanks to the Supanova team for hooking us up! I can't stress enough how incredible it is to be sitting there and hear that character voice in person. Shepherd has to be both the strongest and yet most personable female lead in video games! Much nicer than that needy Ms. Pacman!

But that's not all! Join me after the jump and we'll share more Jennifer Hale/Mass Effect love that occurred at Supanova!

Kickstart the High Seas - An Interview with the Designers of Fleet

If your a regular here, you know that we are smitten with games, nerd culture and the DIY mentality. Which is why Kickstarter tends to get a lot of love from us, both on the site as well as our bank accounts. Recently Fleet, a new board game project much akin to a euro card game in play and style, hit the scene and hit its funding goal of $6,000 in less than 12 hours. We reached out to Matt Riddle and Ben Pinchback and had an opportunity to talk with them about their current project, thoughts on Kickstarter as a platform, games and what the future holds.

Read our interview with them after the jump.

INTERVIEW: We Talk to Michael Price, Writer of the 500th Episode of The Simpsons!

This Sunday in the US, The Simpsons will reach the massive milestone of an unbelievable 500 episodes! For most of us, the show has been around for a large part of our lives and is infinitely watchable and quotable. Even your least favourite episodes still have some of the funniest moments and lines to rival any other show. This a great time to reminisce and celebrate everything you've ever loved about America's favourite four-fingered, yellow, geometrically hair-styled family. 

And it gets even better. I had the huge honour of interviewing Michael Price, long-time writer and co-executive producer on The Simpsons, who also just happened to write the upcoming 500th episode!

Mr. Price generously shares a ton of fascinating information on his process, the behind-the-scenes goings on of the show, and hints to some very funny stuff we can expect in the future. This is unmissable reading, so join me after the jump to learn all about The Simpsons straight from the source! I am wearing a tuxedo while typing this!