Episode 47 - We're back!

And maybe even better than ever?

As left off in the previous post, how could the upload problems possibly be on our end? Even Libsyn was pretty sure isn't wasn't on our end because I was still able to do all of my up- and downloading for work and the problem was isolated to Libsyn, but damned if they could figure out what the problem might be. On Wednesday we called our ISP because the internet was running really slowly. Turns out they made some sort of system change on their end that made our model of modem effectively obsolete. They invited us to stop in to exchange it for a new model. We did that on Thursday evening, and huzzah! we were up and running again! Sorry Libysn, our bad.

Last night on pretty much no notice at all we decided to record our Thursday episode with what gaming news we would have done on Tuesday. Thanks to Rey, David rants away about Sony/Playstation vs. Microsoft/Xbox. He also goes through a big stack of gaming news, then we both review Inglourious Basterds.

It's great to be back.

Episode 46 - Listener night!

David defines “native” for the listeners, talks about the future of the show, and shares a bit about the first PlaystationHome night. We share a letter from a new listener, a new top ten list from Doc, and present the listeners with a Question of the Week: What are the top three best video game weapons?

The show finishes off with the big "fight" we teased in the last few episodes. I'm really not the type to bring a bunch of drama down over something like this. It was far more amusing than dramatic.

This is the last episode we pre-recording during our down-time. I'd been emailing back and forth with Libsyn and at first they were sure the problem was on our end and we were sure it was on their end: We were uploading with no trouble on Friday and nothing changed on our end between then and Saturday, so how could be on our end...?

Episode 45 - Weekend Recap!

David and I talk about bathroom ambushers, the state of our employment, the stupid cat’s vet visit, our fantastic night of Dungeons & Dragons with Danielle and James, two trips to West Edmonton Mall that were varying degrees of aggravating, a night at the movies, getting the Xbox back from Kevin, and the tele-fight between James and Sherri on David's cell phone!

I hate the bumper boats. I hate getting wet, I hate things spraying at me (shut up, perv!), and the life jackets stink. Out of all the stuff I have to do at the mall, those are the worst.

Episode 44 - Special Guest Danielle!

Danielle turns the tables and interviews David! Find out how they met, hear about David's favorite Turtle, and enjoy their spirited debate on World of Warcraft versus console gaming (over which Danielle is still riled up!). There's a little talk about Crystal's roommate, I trash David Suzuki, then things get a little blue in the studio as the talk turns to dating, sexuality, and (much to my chagrin) more information about my own sexual history than I ever expected to be broadcast.

**(Please note that the last 30 minutes or so sounds a bit odd, and the episode ends abruptly. Audacity crashed again and I did my very best to recover everything.)**

The frustration of piecing 30 minutes of audio back together was compounded by all of my attempts to upload this episode. For some reason, the upload would either time out or only a small fraction of the episode would be available and it took several days to find the cause of the problem.

Episode 43 - Media Bonanza!

David and Jenn, with a live studio audience and more anti-Semitism than usual, talk about District 9, Cloverfield, Jon and Kate, Eric Dane's sex tape, Miley Cyrus's stalker and pole dance, Elmo teaching kids about hard times during a recession, and Kelly Osbourne on Dancing with the Stars. Plus phone calls to James and Sherri, and the Rock Band gauntlet is thrown down between David and Danielle!

In response..

You're damn right blowjobs!

Episode 42 - The Meaning of Life

What better way to mark 42 than with nothing but game talk? Hear my review of Folklore for the PS3 and then David's review of Prince of Persia for the 360. Then we pack in so much news that I couldn't fit it all into the Libsyn tags: Earthworm Jim, Lost Planet 2, Fairy Tale Fights, Mini Ninjas, Brutal Legend, Army of Two, art for Borderlands, what Bethesda isn't doing, delays from Bioware, creative press kits for two new DS releases, price drops and skinny consoles, the Zune HD, the new Playstation UI, Fable GOTY, and more!

David closes out the show with praise for my work on the blog, but also a modicum of criticism. He objects to what he feels is me putting words in his mouth. To that I say: When he posts blogs (which I'd love to see more of, because I enjoy his writing) he can put words in my mouth. (To which he will respond with a crude comment about what else I'll find in my mouth. That's how he rolls.)

(Blowjobs!)

Episode 41 - Listener Night With Greg

We combine Listener Night and Guest Night when Greg stops by to help us out with the show. When we first got Rey's great list of questions, Greg was rather unfairly put on the spot while David and I had a week to ponder and research. Greg took this opportunity to amend his previous answers to Rey's questions, and then we all answered questions sent in by Doc. There's also a top ten list by Doc, a review of the XBox 360 service update, and incredulity over Wal-Mart Canada's price on Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Finally, in response to listener requests, David breaks out the gross dead body stories! The very first time he took me to dinner, at pseudo-Mexican restaurant called Jungle Jim's, he told me a couple pretty gross ones which I expect will turn up on the show. I don't know what it says about me or our relationship that I kept coming back for more.

One of my answers to Doc's questions was Slippy the Toad from Star Fox. This reminded me of a long time ago when I was about 14 and I was playing Star Fox on the SNES. At one point my mother overheard me exclaim "Agh! No! The rabbit died!" and my mother freaked out on me, insanely thinking that I had just announced that I was pregnant. I snottily replied "Mom, the rabbit always dies. They had to kill the rabbit to do the test." I learned that from M*A*S*H.

Episode 40 - Weekend Recap

We talk about our stressful trip to the movies, but you'll need to wait until Thursday's show for the review of the movie. We also go over the annoying and aggravating trip to the ER when the older boy was sick (fortunately, it turned out to be minor and he'll be fine).

As often happens, just as we're trying to wrap up the show we end up on a tangent that makes the show much longer than we thought. David starts talking about how he sometimes wants to engage drivers who are being jerks (or as he puts it, he wants to see if shit's going to pop off) and tells us all about his very first fight as a teenager.

BTJEp39 - Special Guest Nic!

We were really pleased to have Edmonton actor and producer Nicholas Mather on the show. Nic was here to talk about the show his production company, Small Nest Productions, is currently presenting at The 2009 Edmonton International Fringe Festival. The show is a cut-version of School House Rock Live!, a musical based on the Emmy Award-winning 1970's educational Saturday morning cartoon series. Many Better Than Jenn listeners may remember growing up learning how bills become laws with "Just a Bill" and getting some early grammar lessons with "Conjunction Junction." You can find out more about Small Nest Productions and their summer tour on their Facebook page!

One thing we didn't really get into on the show was how David and Jenn are connected to Nic. There's a strange amount of interconnectivity going on. It started off as a simple boyfriend-of-a-friend situation. Years ago, Jenn hired a girl named Jenna as assistant director of the non-profit arts organization that Jenn worked for and they became friends. (As an aside, Jenn was hired by Stephanie, of Episode 17 fame, when Steph was moving to Europe. Jenn later quit and hired Steph back). Jenna started dating Nic, so Jenn has been acquainted with him for some time. Unbeknownst to both Nic and Jenn, they were at one time competing for the same job with Alberta Opera. Nic withdrew his application when another job offer was made (in the same building as Steph). Jenn was the tour manager for two of Nic's actor friends and co-stars. Nic and David were later both competing for a position at Stephanie's organization. Oddly, through all that, we hardly know Nic on a personal level at all.

Two links from the show for listeners who are interested:

The Gamer's Girl Blog
Genesis Poll

About gaming

So J3nn bought me Godfather II for my birthday. Godfather I was on of my top 5 Xbox 360 games.

 

In Godfather, you started off as a foot soldier for the Corleone Family as they fight to take control of New York. It was a third person sandbox game in the same vein as Saints Row or Grand Theft Auto, which is easily my favorite genre of games, so it was set up to succeed. I was never a huge Godfather fan, but I do like the 1930’s mafia setting, so that also helped. Gameplay wise, there was a lot of fun stuff to do. There were assassination side missions, in which you would be given targets, with specific kill conditions which would grant you bonuses. There were 100 different business throughout the city that you could find, eliminate the guards, and extort to gain control and protection money. You could rob banks, hijack trucks, and take over illegal shipping hubs.

 

Chock full of 1930’s mobster goodness.

 

Godfather II fast forwards 40 some years to the 70’s, and sets you up in New York, Miami and a third location I don’t know about. They cut some of the charm of the game,  but for the most part, all of the mafia goodness is still there. You can still rob banks, you can pick up contract hits, and of course, extort local businesses.

 

The biggest change they made was to start you off as a newly appointed don, charged with building a family and taking over new York. You are no longer entirely beholden to the Corleone family, though you still do take your marching orders from them. Initially you are charged with recruiting a few soldiers, who you can keep close to you as part of your “crew”. These men have specialties such as demolition, arson, safecracking, medic etc. They also have their own personality and quirks, as well as strengths and weaknesses. This was something that was missing in the original Godfather, and an excellent addition to the game. In any of the later era mob movies, (Goodfella’s, Casino, Donnie Brasco) the “made men” often run in packs, so it’s nice to be able to experience that. Also, it’s nice to have friends with you  that will not only not judge you for beating a hooker to death, but actually jump in and help.

 

 

Good times.