Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on May 21, 2013.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 85 – 05/21/13 feat. Kaylyn Hum & Josh Mootz

1.  Carpool – Sir Patrick Stewart

It seems I’ve found the British precursor to “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.”  There a few more notable big names in this series, but for the most part, you’d probably have to be from the U.K. to know who the rest are.  I love this interview format!  It’s easy to imagine what it would be like to go on a car ride with Patrick Stewart while watching this.

2.  Searching for Spines // Episode Two

Just some all-around excellent skiing/snowboarding footage with great music and some exciting first-person views.

3.  Coming Out Straight – Josh Healey

Hilarious!  I laughed out loud, especially when he’s describing the liberal parents.

4.  3D Audio Machu Picchu – Smarter Every Day

Put those headphones on!  The Binaural sound adds a great immersion factor.

Thanks for joining me for this week’s picks!  See you next week!

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on May 14, 2013.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 84 – 05/14/13 feat. Jon Schrader & Matt Walstead

1.  The Three Little Pigs – John Branyan

I love this – I’m especially astounded by the numbers he gives in the beginning about our current average working vocabulary.  I certainly hope I have a working vocabulary higher than 3000!

2.  What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains – Epipheo.tv

Eye-opening, isn’t it?  Dan found a browser extension that coincides nicely with this theme of de-cluttering and minimizing distractions; you can find it here: http://clea.nr/

3.  Pumpcast News – The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

I’m not a huge Jay Leno fan and this video has a few more hits than those I like to post, but this is too great not too share.

4.  Modern Samurai – Isao Machii

So it’s a BB, but that’s still super impressive – especially to a guy who has tried to block Nerf darts with a lightsaber.  Quite the impressive weapon and wielder.

5.  Flat Random Noise – Hurricane Dean

This is Dan’s song pick for you this week.  Pretty catchy!

That’s it for now!  Thanks for checking out this week’s video picks!  More to come next week.

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on May 7, 2013.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 83 – 05/07/13 feat. Caity Shea Robertson & Lauren “Lola” Schauer

1.  OVERVIEW

This one is in HD, so full-screen it. Absolutely fascinating.  Someday, I hope I’ll get the chance to look at Earth from space, too.

2.  56 Acronyms and Initialisms – Mental Floss

This is a well-delivered video full of useless but interesting information.  Funny!

3.  Rage Against The Machine – Live in London 2010 (Full Concert)

If you don’t stay for the whole concert, at least watch the story at the beginning.  Awesome!  Power to the people.

That’s it for this week.  Thanks for watching!

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on April 30, 2013.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 82 – 04/30/13 feat. Katie Best & Joel Vollmer

1.  Worst Movie Death Scene of all Time

…Or is it the best movie death scene of all time?  I can tell you this for certin – the best comment on this video: “Legend has it, that to this day he is still being shot and dying.”

2.  Melt Yourself Down – Fix My Life

WARNING:  If you’re prone to seizures, don’t watch this.  If you aren’t, set this to full screen, stare in the middle, and have a seizure anyway!  I also really dig the song.

3.  Yosemite Range of Light

Absolutely gorgeous footage shot at Yosemite National Park.  Figured you’d need a brain-cleanser after that last one.  Watch in full-screen on HD to get the full effect.

4.  Man at Arms – Forging Game of Thrones Sword (Jaime Lannister)

This is an excellent new series I’ve just discovered.  I was having a lot of trouble deciding which one I would post, so I went with the first one I saw.  It’s informative and just plain cool to see how this is done.  Check out the channel to view the other weapons he’s made!

5.  Russians are Scary  - Dan Soder Stand-up, 1/7/2013

A little comedy for you.  He’s onto something, here!

6.  Kobayashi vs. Giant Bear (A Hot Dog Eating Contest)

This is Producer Caity’s video pick for you this week, in all its hot dog-devouring glory.

That’s all for this week.  See you next week for more!

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on April 23, 2013.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 81 – 04/23/13 feat. Maddi Hinton & Jack Lob

1.  Can’t Hold Us – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Your Podcast hosts love Macklemore, so of course this is a great place to start.  Fantastic song, amusing video.  Listen to this first thing in the morning to get your day started right.  This video was shot using RED cameras, the film industry’s favored camera.

2.  Samuel Truth – Let Me Breathe

This is a Japanese animation from 1929 set to music by Troy Samuela, AKA Samuel Truth.  He’s an experimental hip-hop artist who hails from Auckland, New Zealand.  If you like this, you should hear his other tracks on soundcloud!  Watch for the little pop ‘n’ lock move the man does when he gets out of the tree.

3.  Bonobo – Cirrus

This one’s just trippy.

4.  Spherical Flying Machine

Cooooooooooooool!  How soon until I can buy one at Brookstone?

5.  An Invocation for Beginnings – Ze Frank

Speaks for itself.  Ze Frank has been creating funny, inspiring works for years and years.

That’s all for now!  I hope you enjoyed the first installment.

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on April 16, 2013.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 80 – 04/16/13 feat. Andrew Nelson & Emily Schnobrich

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on April 9, 2013.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 79 – 04/09/13 feat. Katie Best & Bennett Wadekamper

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on April 2, 2013.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 78 – 04/02/13 feat. Connor Boran & Jeff Priesmeyer

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on March 27, 2013.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 77 – 03/27/13 feat. Alex “AJ” Johnson & Peter Jurgensen

Yes, the crap is still there, but there are legitimate production values driven toward YouTube viewers, and I’m here to provide those I have binged upon, thus far. In a way, I hope this becomes a discussion vector where you can also provide additional insight, but I’ll get the ball rolling.

And before I start my list, I thought it’d be worth-while to provide you with my context of “production value”, in terms of YouTube videos. I’m referring to the videos with sets and filming locations, with audio editors and camera operators. No videos filmed by someone talking to their webcam in their rumpus room. There are a number of artists on YouTube that produce said ‘living room’ style clips, but there is a burst of QUALITY videos that have hit the scene, and are freakin’ FREE, that you should check out. Seriously.

Nerdist has released 16 episodes so far, featuring guests from “Doctor Who”, “Mythbusters”, and the Mars Curiosity Rover team.

To start, I’ll mention a YouTube program that has made its way on to the podcast many a time: Nerdist presents All-Star Celebrity Bowling. It’s fun to mention this program specifically, as AMC is looking to produce the show on the real-deal televisions (read about it here). To me, this show (as well as the next program on my list) is fun and interesting because it holds a similar charm to those celebrity poker programs of the early 2000′s. It didn’t read like a reality show, where there’s unnecessary drama that is produced, but, instead, just one liners from every participant for the entire game. Picture that same vibe, but in a bowling alley predominantly populated by comics. It’s comedian Chris Hardwick, plus two to three of his Nerdist compatriots, paired up against movers and shakers in the entertainment biz, be thay celebrity chefs, or the casts and show runners, respectively, of “The Walking Dead” and “Mad Men”. The over-arching concept for the show is that one to two thousand bucks are on the line, where the challenging team will receive $1k (for a charity) from Nerdist if said challengers are defeated, but that same challenging team will win two grand for their charity if they win the match. It’s fun to see who is good, it’s hilarious to see recognizable figures bowl worse than you, and it’s all for a good cause. Win-Win … win. Check it out.

Host Wil Wheaton and his guests revel in their triumph over the co-op board game, Castle Panic.

My next program follows that ‘celebrity acting candidly during a relatable activity’ flow, but uproots the venue from the bowling alley to the fictitious basement/game room of Wil Wheaton. That’s right. I’m talking about TableTop, produced by Geek & Sundry (Felicia Day’s channel). My friends and I are getting back into board games, with a lot of credit going to this program. Buffering guest Connor Boran was my infection vector to Ticket to Ride and Elder Sign, as well as to TableTop. Since watching (and repetitively re-watching) each episode, I have purchased two games featured on the program (Dixit & Small World [for the iPad]), which gives a bit of credibility to the level of quality when it comes to featured games, and the variety of guests gives it a hearty re-watch value. It’s a mess of Wheaton’s friends from the worlds of Internet video, TV, movies, music, and nerdery. And don’t worry if you don’t know how the games work. Time is dedicated in each episode to give the gist of the rules. Definitely check it out.

“After Hours” is in to its third season, and has tackled topics like Star Wars, Star Trek, James Bond and Batman, to name a few.

To change gears, my next YouTube feature is a scripted comedy program, produced by Cracked. Yes, the magazine that runs in the same circles as MAD. But before you shun me and skip this paragraph, they’ve really stepped up their game to become a near-’CollegeHumor.com at its peak’ site. Nerdy, funny, and in snippets rather than long-format. After Hours is a four-character adaptation on the “Star Wars/Contractor” conversation from “Clerks”, if that off-beat approach comparing pop culture to reality was applied to additional nerdy topics, such as the Sexism in Star Wars, why Indiana Jones Sucked at his Job, why “Back To The Future” is a REALLY creepy movie, and more. The four characters impart a number of viewpoints on each topic upon viewers (like how I learned that “Sex in the City” is the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” for women), combined with somewhat stereotypical mannerisms relating to said character (jock, nerd, screwball, and “the girl”). That last part sounds like it’s a slam against the show’s approach, but it really does work. The quirks aren’t heavy-handed, and balance well as breathers between each argument. Check it out.

Finally, we end our tour with a bit o’ music. It’s A.V. Club’s Undercover Project, the two-year-old YouTube program that features musicians stopping by The Onion‘s Chicago offices to perform in a small circular room in the A.V. Club department. The catch is that they are playing covers of songs suggested by A.V Club readers, so, through this program, you’ll see The Polyphonic Spree playing Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold”, They Might Be Giants playing Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumper”, and Young the Giant playing R. Kelly’s “Ignition (Remix)” and so many more. I’ve found it to be somewhat hit and miss, as you’ll see when you check out GWAR’s cover of Kansas’s “Carry On My Wayward Son”. There are also plenty of reinterpretations when it comes to executing some of the songs, so it’s good to watch videos with a grain of salt, as you may go in expecting a perfect rendition of a familiar/favorite song and walk away crushed. But, it’s still definitely worth your time. Check it out.

I’ll continue to search for quality programming within the muck of YouTube, and I’ll report back with more in the future.

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on March 20, 2013.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 76 – 03/20/13 feat. Emily Dyess & Ali Fisher

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on March 12, 2013.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 75 – 03/12/13 feat. Nick Fugate & Joel Vollmer

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on February 27, 2013.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 74 – 02/27/13 feat. Katie Best & Steve “Frank” Frankenfield

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on February 20, 2013.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 73 – 02/20/13 feat. Mai Preble & Jen Wenmark

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on February 13, 2013.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 72 – 02/13/13 feat. Maggie “Gooey” Whelan & Tom “Wheels” Whelan

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on February 6, 2013.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 71 – 02/06/13 feat. Dan Skaarup & Matt Walstead

(And I will try my damnedest to refrain from making card-related puns, but no promises)

“House of Cards” is Netflix’s second bout in the original, big-name, episodic entertainment arena, but you probably know about the background by now, especially if you’re reading this, so we can skip THAT battleground and dive right into the show. Plus, with all of the announcements and news surrounding more green-lighted original streaming shows coming out daily, we’ll tackle that luchador soon.

“House of Cards” starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright is currently available on Netflix. (Photo credit: Netflix)

It’s a good show. I probably should rephrase that as “It was a good episode”, as no series is given the free pass from putting a bullet in its foot in the initial, but it was enjoyable. Even coming from a short-attention-spaned, would-rather-watch-nostalgic-childhood-programming 20-something, there were enough moving parts to keep me interested … but it’s not without its bumps.

To launch us into the fray, I really enjoy the style of HoC. When the initial trailers/previews came out, I wasn’t sure if what I was seeing, which included a lot of on-screen narration and fourth-wall breaks by Kevin Spacey, was original promo material, or actual content, and I’m happy to say it is a reoccurring device in the show. A lot of people aren’t a fan of programming that tells a story, rather than just showing them, but it is incredibly effective for HoC to introduce a lot of characters and ideas without starting at character development square one. It also doesn’t feel like a spoon-feeding of facts and details, due to Spacey’s genuine delivery, as if he’s narrating for himself in the anticipation of the onset of Alzheimer’s, or something of the like. It feels like he’s addressing someone on his level when it occurs. Spacey’s character’s dry wit also seeps in from time to time to lighten transitions between overlapping plot points, and draws a nice sweet to sour line drawn from the tenser material.

The pacing is also well-managed, while David Fincher sits at the Directing (Chapters 1 & 2, exclusively) and Executive Producing helms of the program. Minimalistic lulls in the perpetuation of Spacey’s drive to achieve allows for fast-paced exchanges and hand-offs. Think of it like the pacing of Fincher’s action movies, but without the action bit. “Fight Club” meets “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” with a dash of “Our Town” (if “Our Town” was the epicenter of the free world). You won’t be able to multi-task stream to this one.

I also believe that casting choices have been strong so far, regardless of role size, but leads Spacey and Robin Wright are definitely the break-aways on this one. The pair (playing husband and wife) starts strong and does not dial it down. Even one-on-one scenes have a certain cadence and tone that remains consistent throughout, creating silhouettes of very, very aggressive characters. Kate Mara joins the first chapter as a hungry reporter in D.C. looking for some sort of angle to lift her above council meeting articles, and does a great job as a neutral underdog character, but I may have ruined a bit of the series for myself by reading on IMDB.com that she only appears in two episodes*, despite my enjoyment over the dynamic of her character’s interactions with Spacey. Her capacity for an outsider status with insider know-how makes her the easiest to root for in my opinion (but that perspective is clouded by a journalism minor) since her actions are, in all rights, legal. Either way, Mara is great with Spacey, Wright is great with Spacey, and Spacey is … great.

Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright create a duo to be reckoned with in DC. (Photo credit: Hitfix.com)

The issue that I do have from the get-go is that there are a few lesser plot points that have the potential to grow as the game goes forward, but are hard to stomach in round one. For example, the storyline featuring an irresponsible Representative brought into Spacey’s fold, played by Corey Stoll, carried a lot of sex and scandal (yes, in the first episode) but it came off as somewhat unnecessary. It was an attempt to provide background for the character to depict where his morals lie, but they almost served more as commercial breaks for me. The character is effectively portrayed as smarmy, but, until he gains relevance within the series (many a seemingly unneeded scene from his introduction) there’s little put forth to get me to care. Had there not been a number of exchanges about his character to reveal a larger part of the whole in the future, I would rule him out, but I’ll give him a stay of execution … for now.

The show is pretty, smart, funny, deep, interesting, timely, and such and so on to include a long string of compliments. I do think it’s worth your time to investigate. Political-drama fan or not, it’s worth an hour. From here on out, I’m left with an interest and inclination to continue down the rabbit hole, but not so gripping that I was able to sit down and power this out instead. I wouldn’t say, “Sign up for Netflix in order to get access for ‘House of Cards’ exclusively”,  but I am willing to wholeheartedly endorse it.

*Author’s note: I am incredibly happy to say that IMDB.com was not factual at all based on what I have seen, having viewed additional chapters in the series. I cannot say why IMDB is inaccurate at this point, but I blame that on the fact that this is a new playing field for IMDB. (Of course I wrote this after watching Chapter 2. It even sounds like a politician’s statement. Rest assured that if you enjoyed Kate Mara in Chapter 1, you will get more soon)

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on January 29, 2013.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 70 – 01/29/13 feat. Dave Wheeler & James Wheeler

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on January 23, 2013.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 69 – 01/23/13 feat. Connor Boran & Emily Dyess

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on January 16, 2013.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 68 – 01/16/13 feat. Andrew Nelson & Erik Nelson

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on January 2, 2013.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 67 – 01/02/13 feat. Jeff Priesmeyer & Julia Schmitt

And, if we haven’t said it yet, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We’re already TWO EPISODES in to this year, and we are gearing up to uphold our Award-Winning status.

Adam and I have each published articles on the site in the past week, as we continue to generate tons of new content for you. Adam wrote a great summary about “In The Basement”, a collection of in-studio performances that are available at Crackle.com, and I have published my review of Redbox Instant, as they are running their customer BETA testing. Definitely check out both of those.

We’re also looking into transitioning the design of our site, so please be patient while we make some organizational adjustments. If there are things you’d like to see on the site, let us know!

Right-o. We taped Episode 67 on January 2nd, and treated it as our “Hangover Recovery/Bloody Mary Night” taping (despite the fact that we took all of Jan. 1 to get back to normal), and our Mic Check this week followed suit. Listen as everyone recalls their first drinking experiences.

Also, as per our update last week, we have something special on this week’s episode page for you. Go listen!

Not long ago, I stumbled upon a video of Gnarls Barkley singing a down-tempo, mellowed-out version of Crazy.  It was so heartfelt and intimate –  the version showed me a side of the song I hadn’t seen before.  That was when From the Basement first got my attention.  When I discovered the long, impressive list of artists who have already been on the show (Radiohead, The White Stripes, Foster the People, The Raconteurs, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Feist, The Shins, Andrew Bird, Fleet Foxes – I would love to go on), I became a believer.

For music lovers who enjoy live or acoustic versions of songs, there are several different sources producing great versions of our favorite tracks.  NPR has their studio sessions, Big Ugly Yellow Couch provides performances by up-and-coming bands, and so on.  From the Basement started as a podcast, but grew up quickly into a TV show streaming on Crackle and DirecTV’s 3-D channel 3net.

Nigel Godrich, the visionary music producer most famous for his work with Radiohead, takes the helm in this endeavor.  Since its humble beginnings in 2006,  transition into a UK Television show in 2007, and on into the present where season 3 is being broadcast in HD in 2-D and 3-D, Godrich’s intent has been to “authentically document the pulse of music being made today.”  In a recent interview with Entertainment weekly, Godrich says, “I think what happened was MTV came along in the ’80s and destroyed the way that people film music on television.  The performance ended up in the edit, and it wasn’t very direct. It’s a selfish thing, really—as a music fan, I really wanted to see people performing on television, so we went ahead and did it. Musicians hate doing TV because it’s such a different world and a horrible environment for them, so wouldn’t it be cool for me as a music person to do a TV show? Then I could get something out of them that TV shows wouldn’t get.”  To that end, Godrich uses an intimate basement setting with no audience (except a few HD cameras), making the artists as comfortable as possible to get the best, purest performance possible.

It’s like PBS’s Austin City Limits, but better.

The thing I appreciate most about From the Basement is that it displays the great musicianship of the artists in a way that hyper-produced studio recordings and blasting live performances cannot.  You get to hear and see in stunning detail just how soulful a singer Cee-Lo is, or how beautifully blended Fleet Foxes’ harmonies really are.  There’s no Auto-Tune, no backup tracks, and absolutely no lip-syncing – just pure performance chops at work.  From the Basement is quality proof that there are wonderfully talented artists making great music today.

“Do you really need 100,000 titles? I mean, really,” said Paul Davis, CEO of Coinstar.

As I wade through the RB Instant library, I’m glad Davis stuck to his word, offering such featured titles as “Soccer Nanny (unrated)”, “Demonic Toys 2″, and “Biebermania”. Upon further investigation into the library, which will be available to subscribers for $8 per month, I discovered the well-honed tastes of Davis and others comes out in spades with a plethora of B-, C-, and even D-list thriller and horror titles, with little else to distract viewers.

Alright. I jest. I have no idea of that which Davis calls quality entertainment. However, based on that which has been made readily available during this BETA test, it’s hard to imagine that RB Instant will pose any sort of threat to Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu (especially since Redbox currently has no plans to add TV shows to its concoction).

The service does offer a few recognizable titles (using “few” in its strictest definition), including “Thor”, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”, “Rango”, and the recent remake of “True Grit”. Sadly, (and I’m being 100 percent sincere about this) beyond those four films, there are only a handful of additional movies that I recognize. Plus, all four listed above are already available on Netflix AND Amazon Prime.

Before I rag on this service TOO much, there are two additional tiers to the RB Instant account: monthly Redbox kiosk credits, and the ability to pay-to-rent and/or purchase videos electronically.

First, the RB Instant subscription, as I’ve stated before, runs you $8 per month and includes four DVD rental credits to be used at any Redbox kiosk. At roughly $1.20 per DVD (plus tax), you’re technically investing more than half of that $8 on DVD rentals, while throwing $3.20 at the subscription service, which actually starts to explain the quality of films available for streaming. The RB Instant site really hammers it home that you will receive four free DVD rentals, which means you will most likely experience an additional charge if you opt for Blu-rays (usually about $1.50 at the kiosk).

From afar, this piece of the puzzle seems appealing, as everyone likes getting something for nothing. However, at its core, it is a contradiction to the service’s name: Redbox INSTANT. Through most of my Redbox kiosk experiences, very little has ever been instant. Limited and/or poor selections at my nearby locations, not to mention long lines, have deterred me multiple times from using the service spontaneously; in my world of movie consumption, pre-selecting and reserving a movie is like picking a restaurant for dinner at 12:30 PM. I really don’t know what I want until I’m hungry. That’s why I already ditched the Netflix DVD delivery service. I have yet to utilize the four credits bestowed upon me, but as you can probably understand, I’m hesitant. I’ll give it the ol’ college try this week and will give an update IF my experience differs from the norm.

The remaining feature is the ability to purchase or pay-to-rent films electronically. This service is not available on Netflix, but has been a part of Amazon Prime since its release and is also a large part of the Apple iTunes store experience.

The renting aspect is fairly straightforward: I would pay $X amount for a film, either in standard- or high-definition, and then I can watch it when I want within a 30-day window. As soon as I start to watch it, I have 48 hours to complete it as many times as I want. Standard stuff. However, there is little to no documentation as to the purchase process. From the looks of it, I’m not even sure the movie is technically downloaded. I believe, if I’m reading the site correctly, that it just goes into my RB Instant library, and can only be viewed with an Internet connection. Not much of a selling point there.

I also reviewed pricing, and found RB Instant tends to charge MORE for both rentals and purchases. I picked a few titles at random (“Ted”, “The Amazing Spider-Man”, and “Juan of the Dead” [yes, it's a real movie]), and here’s what I found:

Across the board, RB Instant is more expensive than Amazon Prime and iTunes. In some cases, it is cheaper to rent or purchase the HD version from either Amazon Prime or iTunes versus the SD version via RB Instant. No points awarded there.

Before I wrap things up, I know some folks out there will want to know about the user interface, as the ease of use is a big part of the streaming game. Here’s my take: it isn’t bad, but there’s nothing new there. I tested the web site, as well as the iOS app, and I found nothing special about it. It comes across as cluttered, like most streaming sites, and includes the hover-over for cryptic descriptions.

I did find one major fault to the site that rubbed me the wrong way. Every time I performed a search query for a new movie, multiple entries for said movie would pop up, forcing me to sift between the physical, Redbox kiosk copy, and the digital copy, which was usually buried beneath the former. On some occasions, I had to run multiple attempts to locate that which I sought. As the search occurred on the Instant site, I had hoped (and assumed) that the digital copy would trump the physical.

Also, you cannot purchase or pay-to-rent movies on the iOS app. A lot of people will see value in that, so to prevent unintentional pocket purchases, but it stinks if you’re on the road, or out and about and want to watch something new. It’s a nit-picky issue, but it’s something that can be completed elsewhere through alternate services.

Based on the hype surrounding the service, as well as statements provided by leadership leading up to the release, I had high expectations for this service, and RB Instant has fallen short. Buffering does not yet have an in-house rating system, but RB Instant has set the bar for how low it can go. The most positive thing I can say about RB Instant right now is that the first month is free, and it includes the four DVD credits. However, I am setting a reminder on my calendar to cancel my subscription the day before my month is up, because I have no want or need to keep it.

My recommendation to you is to exploit the loophole, get four free rentals, and cancel it too. Otherwise, it is not worth your time. Most, if not all, of its library and features are available elsewhere.

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on January 1, 2013.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 66

Good morning, listeners!

We’re glad that everyone survived everyone survived that whole Mayan end ‘o the world bit, and have transgressed into 2013 with us!

We’ve been pretty busy in the new year, having already taped TWO EPISODES in the first week, PLUS, we’ve released the tracks to the Buffering Christmas Party Karaoke Caroling! Make sure to follow us on Facebook or Twitter to get updates as to when new and bonus content is released!

Also, we’re looking to start a contest on our Facebook page, but we need to hammer out the details (and rules) before we can get rolling there. Stay tuned!

On to Episode 66! Adam and I had a great time on New Year’s Day with Kia & Zach Hammill (Adam’s sister & brother-in-law) in studio as we worked to recover from the previous night. Having survived the holiday season as a whole, we opted to take the Mic Check to remissness over holidays past, and some of our favorite memories. It’s a quick, but straight from the heart, Mic Check that you should check out.

(As an added bonus, we will be posting episodes on our site EARLY for you to check out before they head to iTunes, Stitcher, etc., so make sure to jump over to the Episode 66 page to take an early listen!)

Enjoy! And Happy New Year!

Taped (& compiled) at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on December 19, 2012.

As this week’s episode is a compilation of previous episodes, there were no bonus tracks this week.

Click here to listen: Episode 65 – 122012

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on December 11, 2012.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 64

So Adam, Bennett, Frank and I had a great time this week in the Wheels Brewing Co Studio, where Bennett and Frank turned out to be a great pairing, due to their common bond over “League of Legends”. With Bennett joining for the first time, and Frank having not been on in ages, it was great to get a fresh perspective on how other people devour streaming media compared to the diet Adam and I follow consisting primarily of Netflix.

Since this is a late posting, you get a BONUS Bonus Track right now! We had a fantastic riff after riff Mic Check this week, roaming from 90′s TV on Nickelodeon to “Machete” to Christmas trees, and on, and on, and on. Lots of great laughs in that Mic Check.

We also taped an instructional audio clip tied to “Movie Bluff” so we no longer need to explain it in EVERY episode (this means more time for GAMES!). We’ll make a lot of noise (a la postings) when it is available.

Until then, enjoy the Mic Checks for Episode 64.

First, sorry for the delay. With today’s weather-related traffic, and technical issues plaguing the studio this week, it took a few extra minutes to get everything up and running.

The good news? Now you get EVERYTHING from this week AT ONCE! All bonus tracks, and the episode have been posted simultaneously to give you hours of entertainment while you avoid the Minneapolis roads during the first legitimate snow of the year. (To all those in not-so-snowy areas, I wish I was there)

As I mentioned above, we had a few tech issues this week with John Egan joining via Skype. It was the run-of-the-mill “signal cut out a lot” stuff, so we’ve learned our lesson for the second time, and will put all of our energy toward FaceTime in the future, if we opt to phone guests in.

But that technical issue gave way to an additional bonus track this week, so go listen to that. And, of course, we have our Mic Check available on our site. We talk about beer. Preferred beers, to be specific.

AND, if you enjoy the “Buffering …” Podcast, go vote for us on Vita.MN’s “Best of 2012″ list for Podcasts. You can check out the list, and vote, here. Vote! Vote! Vote! We don’t need first, but we’d love to hit top 10 in our second year! Voting ends on 12/9.

Go listen to EVERYTHING from this week!

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on December 5, 2012.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 63

Image courtesy of CNN Money.

Netflix has returned from another content hunt with massive bounty as the result of a huge bidding war. They have locked in an exclusive streaming contract with Disney for a large catalog of content, including movies from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, and Disneynature, according to CNN Money.

The catch? Netflix users won’t see a lot of this content until 2016, when Disney’s current agreement with Starz (a la Sony) expires.

This reads a lot like the deal between Netflix and Dreamworks to post their computer animated library by 2013. It’s also mirroring that deal, as Disney has already provided Netflix with some recognizable and notable content, including “Alice in Wonderland”, “Pocahontas” and “Dumbo”, to name a few.

The deal also includes many sequel-heavy series, like the “Air Bud” sequels, and the “Brave Little Toaster” sequels, but not their originals.

A big piece of this agreement is that it yanks a lot of future content out of the hands of premium cable TV channels like HBO, Showtime and Starz, as they lose access to new Disney/Marvel/Pixar content released after 2016 that would usually linger on their channels between each film’s exit from the theater, but before they hit DVD/Blu-ray. It also blocks streaming sites like Amazon Prime and Crackle from access to the content as well.

It’s nice to see Netflix experiencing success through this agreement (including a recent rise in the company’s stock), but there will still be the gaggles of nay-sayers uninterested in waiting four years for the overall payoff.

At the same time, there are speculators wondering how this will affect Disney’s recently acquired gold-mine of the Star Wars universe. Although LucasFilm was not listed among the content providers (as far as I have seen), the release of Episode 7 in 2015 may lay the groundwork for future negotiations and deals to continue to feed us desired content.

I am, personally, among those excited now, as two of my childhood Disney favorites, “The Great Mouse Detective” and “The Rescuers Down Under” are among the titles already available on Netflix. The fact that the voice talents of Bob Newhart, Eva Gabor, John Candy, and Vincent Price are just a click away makes me wish I wasn’t at work so I could start a Disney binge right now.

Still, there are a number of additional Netflix releases to look forward to this month, as we’ve discussed on the show before, including “ParaNorman”, “Looper” and “The Campaign”. All three of these will be on Netflix around Christmas or New Years, according to movieinsider.com.

Looks like we have at least 1,121 days until we will reap the benefits of this deal, but we’ll keep an eye on things here in the Wheels Brewing Co Studio.

During a conversation in Episode 62, Matt Walstead mentioned that he was using Songza (www.songza.com) as one of his recent primary streaming services, and based on his description, I decided to investigate.

I had mentioned Songza on the show before, from a news story long past (most likely a launch story, or something of the like), but I had never played around with the iPhone app or the web site.

It’s AMAZING. It’s what a song discovery service SHOULD be. It’s the contextualizing of music into the rest of your life, based on “Playlists by Music Experts”, as the site claims, and, honestly, they are not giving the playlist generators enough credit.

For example, there are SEVEN different ways you access these playlists, including lists based on Genre, Activities, Moods, Decades, and Culture. After messing around with this app, I’ve determined my favorite playlist group is aptly named Record-Store Clerk, as its suggestions of playlist sub-groups include “Dance Music That’s Not Assaultive”, “Indie Music That’s Not Too Weird”, “Mustache Music (Or: Cool In The ’70s)”, and “This Will Piss Your Parents Off”. It really is that organization of music that you expect to find in the hipper realms of metropolitan areas, in the mostly deserted record shop where the staff knows exactly what you’re looking for, based on the two notes stuck in your head.

ON TOP OF THAT, there’s MORE. I know what you’re thinking: “But Dan, there are TOO many features already. This is too good to be true.” And you would be wrong, generic infomercial seeded audience member. For there’s the Concierge service. Based on time of day, with a dash of societal paradigms, the Concierge service will suggest genres FOR you. For example, I am writing this on a Friday night, and the Concierge is offering me the following options: “Bedtime”, “A Sweaty Dance Party”, “Pre-Gaming with Friends”, “Putting on Your Party Dress”, “Creating a Cool Atmosphere”, and “Unwinding”. Seeing as I already have my Party Dress on, in a manner of speaking, I went with the Cool Atmosphere one, and, as a result, it is narrowing down the tunes I should listen to into ANOTHER six categories, this time based on genre.

I spent the work day today bombing through the multitudes of dubstep available, to give it an honest chance, and I was really impressed by the volumes of music available in these playlists. But that’s the catch that I’ve mentioned a number of times: it’s a pre-set collection of playlists. You don’t experience the flexibility of Pandora’s lists, or the “control EXACTLY what you want to hear” of Spotify, but when used properly, it fits comfortably into most situations.

Like most streaming music sites these days, there is a social media aspect included, where everyone on Facebook knows you’re listening to the “Cry Yourself to Sleep” playlist, unless you disable the feature. It isn’t as invasive as Spotify’s “POST EVERY TRACK” setting, but it’s also not a feature I’d actively seek out.

There are also a few extra clock-related features, where you can set a specific playlist to start playing as an alarm at a certain time, and the ability to play music while displaying the app’s built in clock, but they aren’t anything to write home about. I imagine you could go through the Concierge service (which you can also set different days of the weeks, and times of day, kind of like looking at future traffic on Google Maps) and set certain appropriate playlists to pop up when you expect to be commuting to work, or doing housework, or what have you.

Right. So it’s great, right? Now let’s get down to brass tack. It’s available for iPhone, Android, Kindle, and computers for free (with clickable, but not audible, ads). So far, I’ve played with the iPhone app and the web site, and the user interface is nice. Not too complicated to navigate; not to noisy to sift through. “Nice” is really the most appropriate word for it. It also has the Pandora “You’ve Skipped Too Many Tracks For Now, But If You Switch Over To Another Playlist, You Can Keep Skipping” license restrictions, but with the number of playlists available, this shouldn’t hold you back.

I don’t think it’ll replace my iCloud use, or the occasional Spotify use, but I do think this may replace Pandora in my eyes, at least until I exhaust the playlists I am actually interested in hearing. I say it’s worth checking out to see how well the Concierge matches your moods, and to laugh at some of the playlists and categories. It’s not like it’ll cost you anything. I’m with the folks on the Apple App Store: 5 Stars for this one.

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on November 27, 2012.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 62

Right. First, new content announcement! Comedian John Egan is developing some new content for us, based around a contest he won through HuHot Mongolian Grill. He’ll be on next week, so stay tuned! Until then, check out his Facebook page.

Next, we’re excited to announce that we have the next five episodes ALREADY BOOKED, and you are in for a hilarious and fun December. Stay tuned for that as well.

Finally, we had a great week with Peter Jurgensen and Matt Walstead joining myself and Adam in the studio this week. It’s another one of those ‘childhood friends invade the studio and hilarity ensues’-type moments.

Our Mic Check was brief this week, but fun, none the less. We recap Thanksgiving by creating a THANKSGIVING THEMED CARNIVAL! Including the obese gentleman who abuses the Midway. You know what? I’ll stop giving away stuff if you go listen right now. NOW! GO!

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on November 21, 2012.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 61

Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on November 13, 2012.

Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here.

Click here to listen: Episode 60 – 111312

Adam and I had a FANTASTIC time this week taping Episode 60 with Katie Best & Maianne Preble, where we discussed A LOT and NOTHING at the same time. Great banter, super funny, and somewhat saucy.

We can blame all of that on this week’s Mic Check, as we started on that foot, and never left it. We talk about “Skyfall”, sexy James Bonds, Bond pornos, car pornos, and so much more.

We did break away from the raunch with a few other conversations, but a lot of our mid-episode call-backs dealt with the fun and funny conversations. You can hear this week’s Mic Check by clicking here.