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Patreon Newsletter #4: February 2022!

Added 2022-02-03 07:46:34 +0000 UTC

From Arnie:

January. A time to recover from the holidays. Also, in Chicago, a time to get way too cold.

Unfortunately (but understandably) our San Francisco Sketchfest show (and the whole festival) was delayed to next year due to an especially nasty covid surge. Instead, I was treated to a birthday overnight getaway to… Milwaukee. It sounds like I’m joking but it was really delightful. Stayed at the really cool hotel The Iron Horse which used to be a Harley Factory, ate some good food and visited the beautiful art museum. The architecture of the museum, which I would describe as “what if H.R. Geiger made something happy?” was maybe the best part.

Speaking of my birthday, thanks to everyone who joined the Patreon on my birthday! What a wonderful gift. Maybe some of you are reading this. Thanks!

Overall, most of my “getting out of the house” in January was to shovel snow and then immediately go back into the house. But I did visit Chicago’s Garfield Park Conservatory, which is apparently one of the largest botanical conservatories in the world. I walked among the beautiful plants from around the world and very nearly shit my pants. I think it was the barbeque I ate right before walking into a very warm greenhouse environment.

Fun fact: As an adult I’ve never shit my pants. Seems like that wouldn’t be true but somehow it is. For now.

Fun fact #2: (I probably should have reversed the order on these fun facts) Walking around the desert room of the Garfield Park Conservatory, I realized that every type of cactus (and there seemed to be over 100) kind of looks like a weird penis.

TV – The tv I watched this month. Sticking with the system of descending order from my favorite to… you know, not bad, just my least favorite of the month.

1. Station Eleven

2. Bluey (season 2)

3. Abbot Elementary School

4. Yellowjackets – I’ve only watched the first half the season and I suspect/hope the second half of the season is why others have recommended it so highly. I like it, but I’m hoping to love it.

5. For All Mankind (season 2) – Guns on the moon. In the ‘80s. Like it more than season 1 but how “good it gets” was a little oversold to me.

6. Taskmaster (season 9… really just a couple episodes) – It’s only low because the kiddo and I have fallen out of the habit of watching it as regularly. Also I have to pay for it on YouTube. But.. it’s a pretty ringing endorsement of the show that I figured out how to pay for it on YouTube.

7. Who’s the Boss (the first episode and a half) – Just checking in to see if it’s how I remember it. Surprised to discover the scene burned into my brain from childhood of Tony accidentally walking in on Angela coming out of the bathtub actually happens in the second episode.

Movies – Same deal: best to… least best. As always a fair number of kids movies.

1. C’mon C’mon

2. Wolfwalkers

3. Zola

4. Inside Out (rewatch)

5. Gangs of New York

6. Nobody

7. Eternals

8. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (rewatch)

Games – Last month I wrote that I hoped to dig into Psychonauts 2, Deathloop and Overboard in early 2022 but so far… of those three I’ve only played a couple minutes of Psychonauts 2, which seemed promising, if slightly too uncanny valley-y. I did play a fair amount of the new Sack Boy game with the kiddo. Besides that mostly just Wordle (I start with “unite”) and sometimes Lewdle the surprisingly difficult dirty Wordle rip-off (I start with either “penis” or “fucks”).

The small handful of tabletop games I played. In no particular order.

· Horrified

· Sushi Go Party

· Tea Dragon Society

That last one was a gift for my daughter from Matt. Matt gives great games as gifts and many of the best ones I’ve played with the kiddo have been from him. I’ve put a fair amount of effort into finding good kids games (preferably cooperative). If folks are interested maybe I’ll put some tabletop kid games recommendations in next month’s update. (And if you have some good recs for me, put ‘em in the comments.)

Matt also got me the Shining board games for my birthday which looks great but I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet. (He also got me an expansion pack for some game called Medium which looks interesting but… I don’t own the game Medium.)

All the Stuff I Can’t Tell You – Sorry can’t tell you any other stuff. Look, I already shared that fun fact about how I’ve never shit my pants! That seems like way more than enough.

One Last Thing – If you read this, comment on this post with just the first name of someone you knew as a child that you haven’t thought of in a long time.

Have a nice February.

Arnie

From Matt:

It’s been a busy month, but then I look back and can’t remember what I did the whole time. Laundry? Probably laundry.

I went to Cincinnati for a week to shoot a commercial (keep your eyes peeled during March Madness). Long shoot days, but met and worked with a ton of nice people. One of the sound guys even realized I was Usidore (once my character in the commercial had a yelling bit). Hi, Ryan!

Played some Stardew Valley while I was away. Have been watching a lot of British panel shows during these cold winter days too. Something cozy and comforting about them. Big Fat Quiz and Would I Lie to You. Though I think I’ve seen all of them at this point.

Also got some new towels.

Love, Matt

From Adal:

Hello friends!

2022 has been pretty good so far! I’m daring to be optimistic! My dad came into town to stay with us for a few days on his way to Jordan to visit his sister he hasn’t seen in 12 years. It was nice to catch up with him and eat the 10 pounds of knafeh, baklava and other sweets he brought.

Jemma and I have been working on wedding stuff in anticipation of the big date in April! I say us but Jemma has (by her own desire!) taken on 95% of the work as she really enjoys figure out how to put it all together (again please understand she is WANTING to do most of the work! I’m not shirking my duties! I’m not a male 90’s sitcom character! “What do I want for the wedding? I don’t know babe….a keg under the table?!” (loud burp. Looks at camera and shrugs. Studio audience goes crazy. Shits pants and dies). Our invites are sent, our website is live, we started a honeyfund for Hawaii and we’re hoping things go as smoothly as possible! Wish us luck! If you have any Hawaii recommendations PLEASE send them my way in the comments here or through social media!

A couple days ago I got my first tattoo which as promised was an illustration inspired by Erin’s (who plays Momo the Mouse and co-hosts another podcast I do called Hey Riddle Riddle) 10 word fairy tale from a HRR episode; ‘Jay Jay, made of hay, couldn’t go to the bonfire’. I’m over the moon with how it turned out and in love with the art as commissioned by the white hot nova talent of HRR and Magic Tavern listener Jasmin Darnell (Twitter: @JasminDarnell Instagram: @ya.hime). Hoping I can convince Arnie and Matt to get matching or complimentary tattoos in the coming year as I’d like to get a few more!

I JUST got home from going with Matt Young to an AEW show that was a goddamn blast. We got to hang a bit with Nyla Rose and Aubrey Edwards after the show as they were nice enough to offer us tickets for the show. Highly recommend you check out some AEW. Nyla and Aubrey were phenomenal in the show and I’m curious to see what this Danhausen character is about.

ALSO Jemma and I leave for NYC in a couple of hours so I’m writing this quickly before I pack and head to O’hare at 4am! We’re gonna see Hadestown and Company again and spend some time with Jemma’s brother for his birthday.

Here’s what media I consumed in January -

TV:

Station 11 - one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. So in love with this.
Six Feet Under Season 5 - Jemma and I finally finished the series!
Sopranos Season 1
Yellowjackets
Peacemaker
The After Party - like a funny, weird, sometimes musical Rashomon! Highly recommend
The Legend of Vox Machina
The Women in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window - really well done as it’s a parody but they don’t go for a laugh a minute, it’s a big laugh every 5 minutes and the ending was *chef kiss*. Friend of the show Mary Holland is a delight in this as well!
Ozark Season 4
Gomorrah Season 1
Work In Progress Season 2
RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14 - Jemma and I’s favorites are Cornbread and Angeria
After Life Season 3
Cheer Season 2
The Righteous Gemstones Season 2
Yearly Departed 2021
Moses Storm: Trash White - stand up special
Dan Soder: Son of a Gary - stand up special
Jim Gaffigan: Comedy Monster - stand up special
Jim Jefferies: Intolerant - stand up special
River Butcher: A Different Kind of Dude - stand up special
Mark Normand: Out To Lunch - stand up special

Movies:

Good Time
Encanto

Other Stuffs:

New issue of SAGA!!
Later Alligator - video game on Switch (so funny and charming!)
Superliminal - video game on Switch
Metroid: Dread - video game on Switch
Talking Sopranos - podcast
Beef and Dairy Network - podcast
Three Bean Salad - podcast
Dear Earth, I’m Really Sorry - podcast (Matt Young’s new podcast! He’s fantastic in it!)

I guested on the following podcasts!