Another excerpt from the above book. This one is less silly, but still very informative.
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As weâre coming into Summer⌠How about âSandalsâ (Love dem Birkenstocks.)
Iâm pretty certain âOnline Multiplayerâ has been covered well enough.
An episode about KPop.
Then itâll be the Kpop power hour as Scott finds Kpop news, a Kpop TotD, then the main bit is him gushing on Kpop for 45 minutes.
Actually Iâd listen to that.
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Iâd listen to multiple of that.
You people actually want KPop? The Internet has more KPop than you can handle. Every KPop group, even the ones who arenât actively promoting a song right now, are constantly uploading content on their social media, YouTube, and VLive channels. Every KPop show, and all popular Korean TV shows, are available subtitled online for free, mostly legally. Itâs been like this for almost all of the 2010s, and even earlier. Most KPop discographies, even of old disbanded groups, are available legally on all streaming services, and every hit song and MV is on YouTube. Youâve got probably 15 years of free KPop content at your fingertips. Have at it.
This is the main reason for KPopâs international success. Unlike Japanese media companies that try to take down, restrict, and hold back their content, Korea lets it be free.
Itâs not just for KPop either. Compare the LINE Webtoon model of sharing webcomics for free in an app to the Japanese manga creators begging people to stop pirating manga while scanslation sites are showing up at the top of Google searches. You canât even pirate the Korean stuff because they translate it and put it up themselves for free. Imagine if there was a website where Shonen Jump posted literally every manga ever, translated, free. And the second they released a new issue, they posted it.
The point is, if you want KPop, you donât need me. Find a group to stan and go down their rabbit hole.
Episode on toys?
How about, toys of your not-youth?
When I was in college I very briefly started collecting cheap small plastic figures, mostly the Takara Transformers SCF, but also from a few anime series I was into at the time. I have some Fullmetal Alchemist and Azumanga Daioh figures stored away somewhere. It was something to buy at anime con dealerâs rooms.
Then at the end of my youth, once and for all, I stopped collecting useless plastic junk. The only thing that could be considered âtoyâ of not my youth would be Gunpla. But Gunpla is something you do, not something you just buy. The only thing in the toy category I can remember buying as an adult are LEGO Voltron and LEGO NYC Skyline.
It really depends on what you consider toys. If youâre talking about plastic figurines, I have hardly bought any in my adult life. But are cameras toys? Are computers toys? Are bicycles toys?
TL;DR: Donât be this guy:
A toy is a thing that facilitates play.
As Iâve grown, my definition of âplayâ has changed, and thus so has the definition of âtoy.â
You can have a single item that is both a tool and a toy, just depends on how you use it. I bought a ditch bank blade for clearing heavy brush in my woods - itâs mostly a tool for work, but I also play with it like itâs a polearm, and try cutting stuff down just to see if I can. That makes it a toy.
Itâs about playing, not about the object. A stick can be a toy.
I agree with your broad definition of toy, as I agree with an extremely broad definition of art. But it just shows that doing a podcast on âtoysâ is as pointless and broad as doing an episode on âartâ. If weâre going to do an episode on something, we need to narrow it down.
My toys today are videogames, my bike, tabletop games, video equipment, etc⌠That hurdy gurdy I built. My trumpets.
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Sure, I think you could easily start with things that are unambiguously toys. Nobodyâs going to argue about action figures or LEGO bricks or whatever. The topic that I could see being interesting is talking about your favorite toys, analyze what makes a toy a toy (like analyzing a game), and then talking about how your own definitions have changed over the years.
Does Twitter count as a toy if all it does is toy with your emotions?
My work tools are totally toys for me, most of the time.
A show on dead websites/services could be interesting. The current homogenization of websites, along with the loss of interesting and historically relevant content leaves a lot to be unpacked.
Your episode from many years ago on âFireâ was labeled âPart 1â, and we never got the promised Part 2.
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Not a bad idea. FYI early GeekNights was being recorded while a lot of early Internet still existed. If you go listen, you might find some gems.
Also, do not listen to early GeekNights.
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Please remind me where we left off because I donât want to go back and listen to part 1.