Episode 35 – Mel reads, Matt acts, Kelly equivocates

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Nurture and Support’s favorite pro bono voice over guy, Matt Shivers joined us once again.  SPOILER ALERT: At the end of the show Mel and Kelly start talking Breaking Bad again – they can’t help themselves.

Mel’s Recommendation:

Blah blah 4 book trilogy, blah blah (awesome cover pics)

dragonbone-chair-header stone-farewell-headertgat-header

Click the Pics to unfurl the awesome.

 

 

Book Trilogy: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams

  • This Epic Fantasy actually consisted of 4 paperbacks because the last book had to be split into 2 parts since it weighed in at ~1700 pages.
  • This is a classic Epic Fantasy and hits all the tropes. In a good way. In a nutshell, a lowly kitchen boy must save his people from an ancient evil. There are Wise Old Men, a Courageous Prince, a Good Prince, a Bad Prince, Elves, Wolves, Trolls, and maybe even a Dragon or two.
  • The books in order are: The Dragonbone Chair, The Stone of Farewell, and To Green Angel Tower Part 1 and Part 2.
  • The covers were done by the incomparable Michael Whelan. Check out his work at michaelwhelan.com.
  • The Dragonbone Chair was released in 1988 and the series finished with To Green Angel Tower in 1993. Happily, the author has released that he will be returning to the land of Osten Ard with an all new trilogy. A date has not yet been released.

 

Matt’s Recommendation

sdcc

We tricked Matt Shivers (@MattShiversVO) into joining us again! We may or may not have had ulterior motives. Only time will tell.

Event: COMIC-CON! otherwise known as SDCC or boringly as Comic-Con International: San Diego

  • Matt made us all jealous by actually getting to go to this year’s Pop Culture Extravaganza, because he was actually on a PANEL!
  • The panel was for the short film Fluffystein, where Matt’s voice acting skills were featured. This was a really cool project that was made from a script written by two teenage girls. Check out the full short below!
  • Matt even has an IMDB listing now. We ARE NOT jealous.
  • While at Comic-Con, he also visited NERD HQ and sat in on Conversations with Zachary Levi. Mel is VERY JEALOUS.

 

 

Kelly’s Recommendation

archer-season-3

TV Show/ Cartoon: Archer (currently on FX)

  • Kelly eventually recommended the TV series Archer. While not as thoughtful as Matt’s and Mel’s recommendations, it is very funny.
  • “A wonderful show full of horrible people” Mel’s sold!
  • It features a cast of wonderfully flawed characters, including a possible clone of Hitler.
  • And it is on Netflix. (And recommended to people who like Breaking Bad…)  Just not for the easily (or not so easily) offended.

For example…

Here is a link to the models for the Archer characters Kelly mentioned.

 

Social Media Recommendations

Kelly – @Atypical_Ashley – An unwavering ally in Kelly’s war on KNITTERS.  Unlike SOME people (Mel)

Matt – @ZacharyLevi – He’s Chuck, He’s Awesome, He Created NERD HQ to help kids around the world.

Mel – @TheMattFowler – a TV/Movie critic who likes Wrestling and Comic Books. Check out his site showrenity.com

 

Want to subscribe to the Nurture and Support podcast??   Our feed – http://nurtureandsupport.net/feed/podcast  iTunes – Nurture and Support Thanks for listening! Mel (@karmic9) and Kelly (@kellythul)

Episode 34 – Books about Mormons and Witches. What could go wrong?

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Kelly tells us about a musical you may have heard of called ‘Book of Mormon’; and Mel watches some Lifetime TV and finds ‘The Witches of East End’.

 Kelly’s Recommendation:

BookofMormon

Musical/Music (Soundtrack): The Book of Mormon

  • The award winning musical by the creators of South Park explain Mormonism… sort of.
  • There are Star Wars references and a ‘Spooky Mormon Hell’.
  • It is full of clever tweaks on songs from other famous musicals.
  • For you Frozen fans out there, Olaf  is there.  Sorta.
  • The Soundtrack is available from all music retailers, but you’ll need to catch the show at your local performing arts center.

 

 

 

Mel’s Recommendation:

witchesofeastendcast

TV Series: ‘Witches of East End’ on Lifetime

  • The series is currently in Season 2 on the Lifetime Channel and is loosely based on the books by Melissa de la Cruz
  • As you can see, it has lots of Beautiful People in it. So much so that the song  ‘Beautiful People’ is used in it’s promos.
  • It’s the story of the Beauchamp Family, who are all witches who have been cursed. Seriously, Aunt Wendy often steals the show by turning into a cat.
  • There’s quite a twitter following for the show, so join in if you get the chance.
  • Season 1 is available on Netflix, and Season 2 can be seen on Lifetime’s website.

 

Social Media Recommendations:

Kelly: @RockSkimmer: David Davidson is a self admitted “Freak of Nurture”. He’s very good at the Hashtag games on Twitter an has a complicated relationship with a stuffed squirrel.

 

Mel: @SciencePorn: If you think science is sexy, they’re your guy… or gal…. or whatever.

 

Want to subscribe to the Nurture and Support podcast??   Our feed – http://nurtureandsupport.net/feed/podcast  iTunes – Nurture and Support Thanks for listening! Mel (@karmic9) and Kelly (@kellythul)

Episode 33 – Penalty Card a Warlock. I dare you.

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Throw Penalty Cards at your friends after watching a Warlock curse a Valley Girl.

 

Mel’s Recommendation:

Warlocksands

 

Movie: Warlock (1991)

  • A super fun Evil Warlock travels through time from 1691 to 1991 California in search of the Grand Grimoire. That’s an evil witch book by the way. You can’t blame him really, they were going to burn him over a bonfire with a basket of live cats.
  • It stars Julian Sands (Warlock), Lori Singer (Kassandra), and Richard Grant (Redfern).
  • “Ask me anything, I took 2 years of high school.” ~Kassandra
  • Sadly it’s not available on Netflix, but it is available to rent/buy from Amazon Instant Video, or buy from iTunes.

 

Kelly’s Recommendation:

PenaltyCard

 

Web Service: PenaltyCards.com: ‘They deserve it. They really do.’

  • Ever wish you could throw a penalty card at your friends, family, and coworkers? Here’s your chance.
  • Reward good behavior with a pretty Green Card. (Mel likes to call it Super Green because she’s seen Fifth Element too many times.)
  • Penalize bad behavior with a Yellow, Red, or Black Card. The Black Card may or may not involve burning the offensive party over a basket of live cats. (See the Warlock discussion above.)
  • Penaltycards.com gets a Green Card for Facebook integration, but Twitter is a little more hands on. Don’t worry, you won’t get carded for it.
  • Psst: Our own Kelly created this one! ~Mel

 

Social Media Recommendations:

 

Mel: @eridani99: Laurie K over on twitter is a ‘Computer geek, gamer girl, part time blogger, io9 moderator, gadget lover, novice cookiemancer’ and she’s cool to boot so go follow her. Now.

Kelly: @VisualLasVegas: Fun and cool pictures of Las Vegas and environs (that don’t crush your soul). 😉

Also go follow @PenaltyCards!

 

Want to subscribe to the Nurture and Support podcast??   Our feed – http://nurtureandsupport.net/feed/podcast  iTunes – Nurture and Support Thanks for listening! Mel (@karmic9) and Kelly (@kellythul)

Episode 32 – Anime, Manga, and a Sharktopus!

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We talk Attack on Titan, Sharktopus Art, and the Amazon Prime Directive.

Kelly’s Recommendation:

AttackOnTitan

TV Series/Book (Manga): Attack on Titan

  • The Anime series is available on Netflix!
  • Check out the first book in the Manga Series here.
  • Attack on Titan is the story of humanity’s ongoing struggle against people-devouring giants called Titans.
  • The Anime on Netflix uses subtitles, so it counts as reading!!

 

Mel’s Recomendations:

Because Mel couldn’t decide on which was more awesome, she’s recommending 2 Digital Artists today!

stp

I heart You, Sharktopus by EricDaNerd on deviantART

Artist #1: EricDaNerd

  • One word, folks. SHARKTOPUS!
  • As you can see, Eric has created the most adorably chubby Sharktopus ever. (I want to hug him and squeeze him and take him home with me. ~M)
  • There’s more to see at his website: ericdanerd.wordpress.com and at DeviantArt.
  • Get your very own Sharktopus mug at his store!
  • Who wants to get a chubby Sharktopus tattoo with Mel?

Artist #2: Chris McGrath

  • Chris has done the book covers for some of Mel’s favorite books, including The Dresden Files books she talked about back in Episode 8.
  • Check out his gallery at his website, christianmcgrath.com and follow him on twitter @cmcgrath72
  • AND he’s putting up a bunch of his book cover illustration on his store, so you can buy prints and iphone/ipad cases!

 

Mel’s Secondary (Tertiary?) Recommendation:

Store/Service: Amazon Smile

  • A program started last year by the Big Evil Corporation to give a small amount of money (.05%) of your physical goods purchases to the charity of your choice.
  • Go to smile.amazon.com to sign up
  • This has been an Amazon Prime Directive. 😉

 

Social Media Recommendation:

Kelly: @JayOlegario: The awesome voice actor who played Datu on one of the best zombie podcasts out there, Were Alive.

Mel: @GeersArt: the twitter account of Darren Geers who is the creator of the saddest little DovahKitty you will ever see. Click that link. I dare you.

 

Want to subscribe to the Nurture and Support podcast??   Our feed – http://nurtureandsupport.net/feed/podcast  iTunes – Nurture and Support Thanks for listening! Mel (@karmic9) and Kelly (@kellythul)

‘The Magicians’ Update!

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The folks over at Syfy have greenlit a pilot based on ‘The Magicians’ by Lev Grossman. If you’ve forgotten, we talked about that book back on Episode 26. This could be pretty cool! The author had this to say about the news:

On Wednesday night I got a call from my producer and the two geniuses who’ve been working on the pilot script for the Magicians TV show since literally last August. They were standing around a speakerphone yelling. Word had come down: Syfy greenlit us. They’re making the pilot.

This is a big break for me. I’ve been talking to people in Hollywood about The Magicians for five years. I’ve seen writers and producers and directors and agents (four of them) and options come and go, but this is the first time anybody has doubled-down and is going to shoot something. People are going to dress up as Quentin and Alice and Eliot and Julia. Someone is going to build Brakebills (or more likely find some place that already looks like Brakebills). Big expensive computers are going to make it look like magic is happening.

You can read more over at levgrossman.com.

Also the 3rd book in the series, ‘The Magician’s Land’ is coming out on August 5, 2014. Check out a book trailer that the fans helped make down below. Watch closely as it features quite a few people you might recognize, such as Peter Straub, Terry Brooks, Neil Gaiman, Erin Morgenstern, and Patrick Rothfuss reading excerpts from the new book.

 

Episode 31 – The Valley of Snowpiercer Monuments

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This episode we’re leading a Princess through Monument Valley, and taking a trip on a little runaway train called Snowpiercer.

Mel’s Recommendation:

snowpiercer-poster

 

Movie: Snowpiercer (2013)

    • A fantastic post-apocalyptic dystopia set on a train. Yes, a train.
    • This exciting story is set 18 years after a failed attempt at controlling global warming sent the planet into an ice age. The last of humanity lives on a train that circles the frozen Earth once per year. For the economy class passengers in the Tail of the train, it’s not a pleasant little road trip and they decide to change their fate.
    • It’s been described as “Hunger Games on a train”, but I think it’s more like Hugh Howey’s ‘Wool’ running into the Capital from ‘Hunger Games’.
    • It stars Chris Evans, John Hurt, Kang-ho Song (from The Host), Tilda Swinton, and Octavia Spencer to name a few.
    • If you missed the limited run of this Korean movie by Radius TWC in theaters, don’t worry! It’s on Video On Demand as of July 11.

 

 

Kelly’s Recommendation:

MonumentValley

 

Game App: Monument Valley

  • An iOS and Android app by ustwo.
  • ustwo describes the game as “An Illusory adventure of impossible architecture and forgiveness.”
  • Check out some of the beautiful screenshots from this game here.
  • Art deco meets Escher meets awesome
  • You have to play a princess, but it is all cool

 

 

Kelly’s UN-Recommendation

Game App: Flappy Zombie on iOS. Just don’t do it folks.

 

Social Media Recommendations:

Mel: @scottEweinberg on twitter: Scott Weinberg is an online film critic and quite the funny guy. Just go follow him already.

Kelly: @bengreenman on twitter. A writer  for New Yorker Mag. who is responsible for Kelly’s creation of the national holiday, Harbor Day.

 

 

Want to subscribe to the Nurture and Support podcast??  

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Thanks for listening! Mel (@karmic9) and Kelly (@kellythul)

 

Episode 30 – Walken Disney World

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There are things that go bad in life, like Disney World, football, and Angels, but Christopher Walken will always make it better.

Kelly’s Recommendation:

Escape_From_Tomorrow_poster

Movie: Escape From Tomorrow: Bad Things Happen Everywhere.

  • a 2013 Horror movie that was filmed guerrilla style at Disney World that’s not for the faint of heart.
  • It has one of the most awesome movie posters EVER.
  • Check out just how long that it’s been without a lawsuit from Disney at EscapeFromTomorrow.com
  • It’s available on Netflix! Buy or rent from Amazon or iTunes.
  • The soundtrack is on Spotify for your listening pleasure.

 

Mel’s Recommendation:

prophecy11

Movie: The Prophecy

  • a 1995 Dark Comedy/Horror  movie starring CHRISTOPHER WALKEN!
  • Good Angels vs Bad Angels fight over the most evil soul on Earth to win the Second War in Heaven.
  • Christopher Walken has a zombie sidekick.
  • Keep your eyes open and you’ll see Viggo Mortensen as Lucifer.
  • There are 5 movies in the series (not all featuring Walken) and they are all available on Netflix.

 

Social Media Recommendations:

Kelly’s: @KurtVan : Kurt Vanderah remembered that Kelly won The Piranhaconda Egg from Syfy and tweeted this fact.  That is EXACTLY how to get Kelly to recommend you on Twitter.  Kurt also has an intense Bears Packers rivalry with his daughter…

Mel’s: @Shark_Katharine: Katharine the Shark is one of OCEARCH.org’s tagged Great White Sharks that is currently hanging out in the Gulf of Mexico.

 

Want to subscribe to the Nurture and Support podcast??  

Our feed – http://nurtureandsupport.net/feed/podcast 
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Thanks for listening! Mel (@karmic9) and Kelly (@kellythul)

 

Episode 29 – Bears and MORE

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Special Guests John & Helena join us to “share all the awesome”! We’ve got Deserts, Clowns, Tech, Toasters, and the wonderful World of Tomorrow! And Bears, because no podcast is complete without Bears.

Mel’s Recommendation:

Podcast: The Drabblecast

  • An audio production of short-fiction by Norm Sherman and co. It’s “Strange Stories, By Strange Authors, For Strange Listeners.”
  • My favorite episode is “20 Ways The Desert could Kill You” by Sara Pinkser which is Ep. 295. This is a story told by a young girl whose mother has moved them out to the desert for a mysterious reason. Listen and draw your own conclusion!
  • Another one that will give you nightmares is Jay Lake’s “Clown Eggs“. It is full of Clown Trauma. You have been warned.

drabblecast_295_jacob_wayne_bryner

 

John’s Recommendation

YouTube: Dotto Tech

  • A weekly vidcast of tech related coolness by Steve Dotto, includes great quick demos of various tech related things that are supposed to make our lives easier if you can figure out how to use them.
  • Also includes lots of information on growing your social media presence.
  • Steve also bids us to “have fun storming the castle”, which is always a good idea. (~Mel)

Dotto

 

Helena’s Recommendation:

 Book: The Toaster Project: Or A Heroic Attempt to Build A Simple Electric Appliance from Scratch by Thomas Thwaittes

  • The amazing journey of one man to actually build a modern day toaster entirely by hand.
  • The man actually tries to smelt ore and make plastic himself.
  • Check it out on Goodreads and all bookstores.

ToasterProject

 

Kelly’s Recommendation:

Website: iO9.com We Come From The Future

  • iO9 is a phenomenal website that covers all things that contain even a tiny little bit of awesome.
  • Ever wonder where the term iO9 came from? Kelly figured it out for us!
  • They cover everything from tv shows, books, animals stories, and lots of science fiction and fantasy, and of course, “the world of tomorrow”.
  • Follow them on twitter @iO9
  • If you want to see the article about the actual real bears Kelly referenced, go here. 😀
  • Check out the cool little critter below who was featured in “Real-Life Animals We Want To See As Gigantic Movie Monsters”. I think the Asylum should really get working on that Water Bear…

i09WaterBear

 

Social Media Recommendations:

Mel: @amy_geek: Amy Ratcliff is the geek girl blogger you want to follow.

John: @YourAnonNews : “Support digital and AFK activism”. The twitter account for the “Anonymous” group that features developing news from around the world.

Helena: @nycscout : the website ScoutingNY.com features hordes of cool info about New York City.

Kelly: @holland_72 : A friend of The Kelly, so please follow Chris Holland and BE NICE!

Secondary Recc: Happy Father’s Day!

  • John also throws out a Father’s Day howdy to the 2 best Dad’s ever: Lord Tywin Lannister and Darth Vader!
  • Also here’s that RJ Mitte Breaking Bad Father’s Day video:

 

Give a big Thank You to John and Helena for joining us! 

Want to subscribe to the Nurture and Support podcast??   Our feed – http://nurtureandsupport.net/feed/podcast  iTunes – Nurture and Support Thanks for listening! Mel (@karmic9) and Kelly (@kellythul)

Episode 28- Cellos from HELL

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Kelly says “YeeHaw!” and then begs for your help.  Mel remains our Cello Overlord.

Kelly’s plea: On shows where I introduce Mel I typically say “…and with me as always is Mel.  Hi Mel.”,  Which is LAME.  

Could someone PLEASE come up with a better introduction and post it in the comments???

Kelly’s Recommendation:

MotelHell

Movie: Motel Hell (1980)

  • A Horror/Comedy movie about Farmer Smith and his sister Ida run Motel Hello and are famous for their delicious “smoked meat”. You know where this is going right?
  • They have a very interesting “garden” in the backyard.
  • It’s available to rent from Amazon Instant Video, and to buy from iTunes.
  • Stars Rory Calhoun, and Wolfman Jack makes an appearance! Awoo!

 

Kelly’s Re-Recommendation:

Podcast: Scott Stratten’s Vegas Under 30 and The Unpodcast

UNPODCAST_iTUNES-GRAPHIC-300x300

 

Mel’s Recommendation:

ZoeKeating

Music: Zoe Keating

  • Yay! More Cellos!
  • Zoe is an amazing cellist whose music has appeared in numerous tv shows, such as Elementary and even Teen Wolf. She has performed with a number of bands over the years, including Rasputina and Halou, both of which you should check out.
  • Her music is warm and peaceful and will make you feel better no matter how badly your day has gone. I particularly like “Legions (War)” from the One Cello x 16 album.
  • Check out her website for links to her bandcamp to pay what you want for her albums!
  • The Links: iTunes, Amazon, Soundcloud, Spotify (Spotify does not have all of her albums), and her YouTube channel.
  • Here’s a direct link to Zoe’s version of the Star Spangled Banner.

 

 

Social Media Recommendation:

Kelly: @PeytonsHead: A witty twitter account that mishmashes Pop Culture and Sports references for your amusement. #LaserRocketArm

Mel: @IGN: the go to mega site to learn more about EVERY video game EVER.

Want to subscribe to the Nurture and Support podcast??  

Our feed – http://nurtureandsupport.net/feed/podcast 
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Thanks for listening! Mel (@karmic9) and Kelly (@kellythul)