A night out at the “theatah” with Jakob and Mandi. Specifically the Rhubarb Festival in Toronto. Blood, shit, piss, vomit and transgendered country singers. Bravo!

Shownotes here.

Guess who chose this? And he’d been drinkin too much brimstone to defend it. Apologies to Dune and Frank Herbert…

Whatever did we do before the internet and cell phones and the like?  Some of you young’ns may not even remember the days we speak of.  Days of going outside, making up games and generally risking life & limb in the pursuit of entertainment.  Let us take you back to the good old days, where life was analog…
Need more MoN? (Who doesn’t really?) Check us out on The Gunaxin Show, at Gunaxin.com or on iTunes.

2 live shows and a new ‘We Know Celebrities’ interview this Thursday night 3/11, probably starting around 9pm EST, 2am GMT. While we should have the webcam going for both, only one will be put out as a video podcast. One of these shows will be a St. Patty’s Day special.  Bring your drinking hats & join us on the Live Page.

This week we announce our first super-fan listener and take a look at some of the clothing of Star Trek.

As you know, I am a newspaper reporter. Over the past couple of months, I have covered events as diverse as health board meetings, student science fairs and attempted robberies. It’s a busy life, and an eclectic one, but once in a while, an assignment comes along that really lights my fires.

Like the time I was sent to interview a flying serial killer.

I don’t get to actually see him fly, because his studio is kind of small, and he’s not really a serial killer — he only plays one in the movies. But he does make a table levitate for me. It’s fun watching my very tall photographer duck as the table swoops around his head. The outtakes from his camera show a lot of shocked expressions, on his face and mine.

The flying man is Peter Loughran, the Master of Illusions. He’s a Canadian magician, actor and illusionist who, most of the time, works behind the scenes. You’ve seen his large-scale and small-scale illusions on Las Vegas stages and in the shows of some of the top performers in the field, including Criss Angel. But Loughran works on his elaborate magic closer to my neck of the woods, in a nondescript building on the shores of a cold lake in central Ontario.

Inside that nondescript building, though, magic is found. Swords hang from the walls. A bleeding, dripping severed head sits on a shelf. On the wall is a huge poster of Loughran in midair; he invented and sells a device called The Elevator, which allows users to levitate, even when surrounded by a crowd. In other words, flying.

He won’t tell me how it works. In fact, he can’t say much about his work, as it has to remain a secret. At one point, I try to jot down some observations from a secret formula pinned to the wall; Loughran points and my pen vanishes. Luckily, I have another.

The reason I’m here in Peter’s lair, with a photographer, is to talk about Plaster Rock. It’s a new low-budget horror film that was shot in December in New Brunswick, Canada. Loughran plays a key role in the film, as a mysterious magician/villain who prowls the remote forests of Plaster Rock.

“How were you cast in the film?” I ask.

“Well, they needed an actor who could also perform magic, as that’s a part of the character,” he says. “And they needed someone who could double as the magic consultant, and assist with special effects and makeup.”

In other words, it’s a pretty narrow field for casting agents. As soon as the producers started asking around within the illusion community, Loughran’s name kept popping up.

Within days, he was out in the snow, filming the movie. It will be released this spring, with a gala launch in — where else — my living room. No, actually, it’ll be in Las Vegas.

Plaster Rock is loosely based on a true story about a murder case from the 1930s. Adapted to modern-day, the film tells the story of a group of young people on a cross-country ski adventure race who run afoul of a black-cloaked figure who lives in the forest and can disappear in a cloud of smoke. This is, as Loughran calls it, micro-budget horror filmmaking … in other words, right up my alley.

There are days when I thank my assignment editor profusely.

Kennedy, Starbase 66

Visit the Master of Illusions

See the Plaster Rock trailer

Note: Thanks to Global Universal Pictures and Peter Loughran for the photo.

The girls are back! A take-away length episode for you.

This week we welcome Will Tristram, host of The Definitive Word and For Those About To Rock, aboard the station to discuss great genre films that were totally betrayed by their descendants.

The latest episode of SHaFT is now available to download from MusicalMouseMat.com . I urge you to go get it now. You can find the show notes here thanks to Scott Redman maker of fine writing tools.

Anyone can win an Oscar but how many get into our hall of fame?

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are best known to the masses for their 1997 hit, “The Impression That I Get,” (also known to many as the ‘Knock On Wood’ song), from their platinum album “Let’s Face It.”  You younger kids may know them from their song “Where’d You Go?” in Rock Band 2, or their cameo as the band playing in Clueless.  However you may know them, or even if you don’t, you should know that they have a new album out called “Pin Points & Gin Joints,” which reflects the band’s progression from young kids melding ska and hardcore in the 80’s Boston music scene, to their current status as grownups who still have the passion to put together an album despite being a part-time band, being scattered around the country, and holding down other jobs, like frontman Dicky Barrett’s current gig as announcer for late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live.  I had the chance to reconnect with saxophonist and original member Tim “Johnny Vegas” Burton, who I haven’t spoken to since the heyday of ska music in the late 90’s, when I hosted a ska and punk rock radio show in New York.  We talk about the current state of the band, future plans, and cover the Gunaxin.com 6 questions.  Check out the band and their new album at www.BosstonesMusic.com.  Yes, I know this is Simply READ, but here is a special MP3 interview not available on our show feed, so Simply Listen.  (WARNING- Audio is not the best due to circumstances beyond my control.)

Posted by Jay from the Masters Of None podcast.  Follow Jay on Twitter.

This week we dust off the old Monty Python stuff and go rambunctiously through their back catalog.

We have yet another caller on the HGN mystery guest caller line. And the latest Boz vs Casey challenge.

We REALLY had fun on this one, if you don’t like quotes though, this may not be the show for you.

The beer was what in fact what kicked this all off as you can see

Flynn Lives in Toronto. Last weekend Jakob and Mandi went to the pre-screening of the new Tron Legacy trailer (which gets its official release with Alice in Wonderland tonight). In this episode they talk about the emotional aftermath of that event and the original 1982 movie, Tron.

There’s no GalacTALKa this week due to… well, they just didn’t feel like watching or talking about BSG. Not even for you. It wasn’t personal. They just needed some time apart.

Shownotes are here.

Driving in my car. I had a camera so I thought I’d have a go at filming myself. It’s mostly just rambling as I was concentrating more on driving than I was on being funny. Still, I thought you’d like to see it.

The video isn’t on the podcast feed, you can watch it here, on Vimeo or YouTube.

Phew….my fingers hurt after that long title / band name. How can you argue with this choice? It’s pure gold you lovely lot you!

Screw the Oscars.  Here’s our awards both about the awards and the awards we’d like to give the movies of 2009.  Oh, and find out who the Fainters are.

BONUS MATERIAL:

There’s all sorts in this one. There’s the competitions that we’ve been talking about, and we also take a long hard look at food in Star Trek.

ROSE GRAY 28 JANUARY 1939 – 28 FEBRUARY 2010

Sunday 28th February saw the sad passing after a prolonged battle with cancer of Rose Gray, a bona fide legend in the world of catering, and indeed modern British cuisine. I won’t treat this article as a formal obituary, but simply a mark of respect and gratitude from a chef aspiring to follow the example of Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers. The pair opened a decidedly ramshackle, unassuming Italian cafe on Thames Wharf in the London borough of Hammersmith, initially as a canteen for the local business community. The striking difference to this canteen however was the emphasis on honest, ingredient-led cooking as experienced by Gray during stints living and working in Tuscany. This sounds like the credo of every London restaurant now, but in 1987 it was a revelation. As Gray said, Italian food at that point was “all Spaghetti Bolognese and Tiramisu”.

The River Cafe changed all that, and more. At that point, London dining establishments were in the grip of Nouvelle Cuisine fever, the epitome of Emperor’s New Clothes 80’s tackiness. Flavour profiles and the showcasing of wonderful ingredients were eschewed in favour of competing to see who was ballsy enough to put the weirdest combinations of car-crash flavours together in miniscule portions, with a horrifying price tag to solidify the soulless “greed is good” trend of the city. As for the rest of the country – you really don’t want to know what the general level of dining was in 1987. Trust me. Thank the Food Gods, then, for Rose and Ruth and the shimmering oasis of the River Cafe. Dishes were served that sometimes only had two or three ingredients. Platings were simple. The ingredient was the king, the lure, the dangling carrot was, well, very often a carrot. The Cafe soon became massively popular, an institution to food lovers. The pair were approached to write a book. They declined, explaining that they were cooks, not writers. Eventually they were won over, and again, I give thanks that they did. Of all chefs who publish cookbooks, and I mean ALL, the biggest testament to the impact of these two ladies I can impart is that the River Cafe Cookbook, not to mention it’s progeny, has been present in every single kitchen I have ever worked in. More than Larousse, Escoffier, even the college-issued “Practical Cookery”, the Ramsay and Oliver ouvre (and more of the latter in a moment) – if the chef had a love for food, you could bet there would be a dog-eared, splattered copy of TRCC somewhere in the dry store. Everything in those books, as long as you followed the recipes, both worked and tasted delicious. And I’ve cooked the first book from cover to cover. Spaghetti with Crab and Chilli, Amarone Risotto, Zuppa di Pesce, Sea Bass with Lemon and Fennel…I learnt a lot about respecting the things you cook from their recipes. Another great point of admiration I have for Gray is the total lack of desire to become famous outside of the kitchen. Make no mistake, there was no celebrity in this chef. She took her pleasure from the undeniable buzz that is to be had from working a stove, running a pass, and in training youngsters. This last aspect is legendary when talking about the River Cafe. In the near two and a half decades of trading, the Cafe produced a good percentage of Britain’s best young chefs, most famously the now for better or worse ubiquitous Jamie Oliver. Look through an Oliver cookbook, then bring up the current menu at the River Cafe to see the difference made by Gray’s teaching. She may not have had a show on the Food Network, a range of signature pans or a raft of annoying TV commercials, but in my world, in the circles I move in, we have lost a true national treasure in the incomparable Rose Gray. The legacy she leaves is the most perfect tribute.

Rose Gray (front) and Ruth Rogers at work in the River Cafe

Casey – (Here Goes Nothing)

The latest episode of Super Happy Fun Time is now available to download from musicalmousemat.com. We don’t really eat a bucket of chicken on the show. I know it’s not really important but I didn’t want to get your hopes up.

Thanks for SWRedman for doing the shownotes which you can find here in our forums. You can also find the amazing pens that Scott made here on musicalmousemat.com.

This is the biggest grossing MYSS ever.

Here’s another blast from the past while we try to work out the kinks in our recording schedule. On our third show ever Mark (El Diablito) joined us to talk about how the world of Science Fiction deals with, or fails to deal with gays and lesbians. Sorry about the audio and editing, but I was still figuring this podcasting stuff out.

Will and his guests talk about tennis.

Jay’s been going stir crazy buried under 3 feet of snow since yesterday, so he’ll be trekking out to the bar tonight solely to get online to bring you a live show from the DJ booth.  Hope to see you on the Live Page with the webcam and audio a-flowin, with hopefully lots of similiar drunks.