Enjoy Stuff: A TechnoRetro Podcast

Who knows what’s on the menu this week after a weekend of stuffing themselves like turkeys—or hobbits—over the weekend.  TechnoRetro Dads is a jumbled mess of T-Day leftovers with a few nuggets of fun and ideas for geeky dads and those who love them.

 

We Love Our Cereal…

JediShua discovers that Quisp cereal can be found at Cereal Box and shazbazzar finds a box of Cinnamon Vanilla Lucky Charms — so they give it a review.  PLUS: a question from @livetheforce needs answering.  Help us EarBuds, you’re our [only] hope.  

 

Cyber Monday 

If you’re taking the morning off to check out online deals today (or even if you’re checking them out while you’re “working”), be sure to tune in to TechnoRetro Dads while surfing the web and discover some gems for the geeks in your life.  

 

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Steven Spielberg’s classic science-fiction story is forty and has had more revisions and editions than Star Wars (believe it or not)!  JediShua and shazbazzar look back at Close Encounters of the Third Kind with an eye for how well it holds up with the next generation and comment on some of the behind-the-scenes nuances that came together to tell this amazing story.

 

Aftershocks of 1977

Not only did Close Encounters of the Third Kind cause ripples on earth for forty years and counting, but the Rankin/Bass TV rendition of The Hobbit has continued to produce waves of fun for pop-culture to ride for more than a generation.  Two fine musical examples are sure to get your toes tappin’ with Moosebutter’s Star Wars and High Adventure’s Knocking on the Stone.

 

Don’t forget to rate and review TechnoRetro Dads on iTunes, share us and with us on social media, or lend your voice to our discussion about toys, cereal, games, or movies and shows from the ‘70s and ‘80s by giving the ‘Dads your feedback on voice mail at (209) 878-7323 or sending us a message or mp3 via electronic-M to podcast@TechnoRetroDads.com

 

Share and enjoy.

Direct download: TRDads_05.31.mp3
Category:TechnoRetro Dads -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

Greetings, PROGRAMS!

We’re talking turkey this week with stories about seeing family during Thanksgiving, tuning in for some tunes (both new and old), discovering odd clips from 1977, and an early Christmas present for JediShua from an old friend.  Don’t miss these 77 minutes!

 

In the NEWS…

Disney dominates the news with announcements about their online streaming service and some Star Wars comments that have opened the floor for discussion all across the galaxy far, far away.  

 

TechnoRetro Arcade

According to the future as envisioned in 1984, a turkey blight overruns the nation in 1989, turning unsuspecting humans into giant turkeys that team-up for a life of crime and it’s up to you, PLAYER ONE, to put an end to it.  Roast those turkeys on Williams Electronics’ Turkey Shoot!

 

Thanksgiving Specials (1977)

JediShua remembers Barney Miller, What’s Happenin’, and more from Thanksgiving 1977.

 

Don’t forget to rate and review TechnoRetro Dads on iTunes, share us and with us on social media, or lend your voice to our discussion about toys, cereal, games, or movies and shows from the ‘70s and ‘80s by giving the ‘Dads your feedback on voice mail at (209) 878-7323 or sending us a message or mp3 via electronic-M to podcast@TechnoRetroDads.com

 

Share and enjoy.

 

Direct download: TRDads_05.30.mp3
Category:TechnoRetro Dads -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

Happy Life Day!  

The Star Wars Holiday Special has entertained fans for thirty-nine years.  Whether people love it or hate it — whether they enjoy it or poke fun at it — The Star Wars Holiday Special is a piece of entertainment that has long outlived its intended life span.  

As a special treat for all EarBuds, this special TechnoRetro Dads “The Making of The Star Wars Holiday Special” Holiday Special will reveal just how this legendary piece of Star Wars lore came into existence.  Listen in to an actual reenactment in the boardroom where The Star Wars Holiday Special was initially conceived and the concept was developed forty years ago today: November 17, 1977.

 

The Actual 1977 Audio Clips

Without these sets of interviews, segments of popular shows, and the fabulous behind-the-scenes TV special, The Making of Star Wars, this episode of TechnoRetro Dads would not exist.  (Perhaps, The Star Wars Holiday Special would not exist, either.)  

These clips from 1977 are as follows:

  • A 1977 Bobbie Wygant interview with Harrison Ford 
  • The 1977 BBC Blue Peter Interview with Mark Hamill 
  • A 1977 BBC Parkinson Show with Alec Guiness
  • The Mike Douglas Show from 1977 with Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, & Mark Hamill, 
  • Candid Camera
  • Donny & Marie Osmond Show (S3:E1) 
  • The Making of Star Wars Television Special

 

The 2017 Cast of Reenactors

We get by with a lot of help from our SuperFriends.  Thanks to Scott Ryfun of My Star Wars Story, Mike Macdonald of The Sandcrawler on RetroZap.com, and Steve Glosson from The Big Honkin’ Show, Geek Out Loud, Disney Vault Talk, Mark Out Loud, DVT Star Wars Rebels, Rock Out Loud, and anything else on GeekOutOnline.com.

 

Are You New to The Star Wars Holiday Special?

We’ve been covering it for four years.  This is the fourth episode.  If you would like to hear other episodes, check the links below:

2013 “The Lumpy Peanuts Made Me Itchy” (features Skot Kirkwood from starwarsholidayspecial.com)

2014 “Holiday Special 2014” (with Joe Tavano from Brews & Blasters on RetroZap.com, Chris Hamilton from The Star Wars KidsCast, and Mike MacDonald from The Sandcrawler on RetroZap.com)

2015 “Holiday Special 2015” (features Art Director and Concept Artist Paul Bateman from Rebel Force Radio’s Star Wars Influences)

2016 “Holiday Special Special Edition Remix” (expands the story from the 2014 Holiday Special with additional the additional talents of Scott Ryfun of My Star Wars Story and Dinner 4 Geeks and Steve Glosson of the GOLiverse)

 

Don’t forget to rate and review TechnoRetro Dads on iTunes, share us and with us on social media, or lend your voice to our discussion about toys, cereal, games, or movies and shows from the ‘70s and ‘80s by giving the ‘Dads your feedback on voice mail at (209) 878-7323 or sending us a message or mp3 via electronic-M to podcast@TechnoRetroDads.com

 

Share and enjoy.

Direct download: TRDads_2017_Holiday_Special.mp3
Category:Holiday Special -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

Figs and Flagons?  No.  Jigs and Wagons?  Nope.  Pigs and Dragons?  Exactly.  That’s what’s on the ‘Dads’ minds this week as they dive into 77 minutes of fun from 1977 (and other days of youth) for memories and laughs on this week’s episode of TechnoRetro Dads. 

 

In the NEWS…

There’s a new Hershey bar coming soon and it’s gonna be gold!  IDW comics chronicle the further adventures of Jules Verne, er Jules and Verne Brown in a new Back to the Future miniseries.  Disney Infinity isn’t over after all!  Though the game is now defunct, the stylized characters will be repurposed for a new cartoon.  

 

We Love Our Cereal

You might call her the “Queen of Cereal”.  She’s certainly royalty, and she begins her day with a bowl of cereal with fresh fruit.  Who is she?  Tune in and find out!

 

Aftershocks of 1977

Captain Link Hogtrob, First Mate Piggy, and Dr. Julius Strangepork first boarded the Swinetrek in November 1977 during the second season of The Muppet Show as the “Pigs in Space” segment was introduced.  The success of the segment secured it’s reappearance on the variety show thirty-one times over the next four years plus spots on an album and even launching into space on the Space Shuttle Columbia.

 

TechnoRetro Arcade

Although it was never a coin-operated video game, the Atari rendition of “Pigs in Space” launched in 1983 as the last game in Atari’s children’s line.  The game was divided into three parts, one for each of the main characters aboard the Swinetrek.  Link Hogthrob fought off “Chicken Invaders” in a stylized version of “Space Invaders”.  First Mate Piggy had to navigate her way back to the Swinetrek through lanes of noodles and meatballs in “Pastaroids” which more resembled “Frogger” than “Asteroids”.  Dr. Julius Strangepork pilots the Swinetrek through an abandoned pizza mine guarded by weirdos in “Escape from the Planet of the Gonzoids”.  The games are fun, but tough to get going on a computer ported version.

 

Pete’s Dragon (1977)

One of the first movies the ‘Dads ever watched in theaters was Pete’s Dragon, a Disney musical that combined an animated dragon with live action actors in an anachronistic adventure of unbelievable proportions.  With the combined talents of Mickey Rooney, Helen Reddy, Red Buttons, Jim Dale, and Jim Backus, this tale of an orphaned boy and his protective dragon engaged the imaginations of ‘70s kids everywhere.

 

Don’t forget to rate and review TechnoRetro Dads on iTunes, share us and with us on social media, or lend your voice to our discussion about toys, cereal, games, or movies and shows from the ‘70s and ‘80s by giving the ‘Dads your feedback on voice mail at (209) 878-7323 or sending us a message or mp3 via electronic-M to podcast@TechnoRetroDads.com

 

Share and enjoy.

 

Direct download: TRDads_05.29.mp3
Category:TechnoRetro Dads -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

After catching the latest Marvel Studios movie in theaters, shazbazzar and JediShua thought it might be fun to slam another mix tape in Shua’s cassette player he just happens to carry under his cape for a truly TechnoRetro Awesome Hero Mix full of heroic tunes from the past and nearly present.  (Yes, it fits on a Memorex 90 minute tape.)

 

The Tunes:

“Comic Book Hero” (The Tearjerkers)

“Superpowered Superhero“ (Chris Hamilton)

“Legion of Doom Roll Call“ 

“We Are Number One“ (from Lazytown)

“Arkham Asylum” (High Adventure)

“The Joker Is Wild”  (Jan and Dean)

“Joker’s Song” (Miracle of Sound)

“Mwahaha” (Ookla the Mok)

“Call the Roll” (Songs and Stories of the Justice League America)

Super Powers (Ookla the Mok)

“Plastic Man Theme” (Sounds and Stories of the Justice League America)

“Metamorpho Theme” (Sounds and Stories of the Justice League America)

“Superman” (R.E.M.)

“Kryptonite” (Three Doors Down)

“The Escape” (Burgess Meredith)

“The Riddler”  (Frank Gorshin)

“Catwoman”  (Shakespeare’s Sister)

“Love Theme from Superman”  (MECO)

“Superman’s Song”  (Crash Test Dummies)

“Superman (It’s Not Easy)”  (Five for Fighting)

“Comic Book Heroes”  (Rick Springfield)

“I’m Your Superman”  (Rick Springfield)

“The Batusi”  (Neal Hefti)

“Miranda”  (Adam West)

“Boy Wonder, I Love You”  (Burt Ward)

“Flight of the Batmobile”  (Jan and Dean)

“Batman to the Rescue”  (Lavern Baker)

“The Mind of the Bat”  (Miracle of Sound)

“Hero of the Day”  (Iron Horse)

 

The Tropes: 

Like any cartoonish superhero serial or comic, once our heroes have gained their powers, evil versions of themselves from another dimension appear and make a mess of things.  Of course, the trope in this troupe is that the ‘Dads’ “twins” are as bumbling as the ‘Dads themselves.  Neither pair gets the recognition (or notoriety) they feel they deserve, but our hometown heroes are pleased that, in the end, they land a place among the real heroes as sidekicks.  As for their evil counterparts…well…   

 

Don’t forget to rate and review TechnoRetro Dads on iTunes, share us and with us on social media, or lend your voice to our discussion about toys, cereal, games, or movies and shows from the ‘70s and ‘80s by giving the ‘Dads your feedback on voice mail at (209) 878-7323 or sending us a message or mp3 via electronic-M to podcast@TechnoRetroDads.com.

Direct download: TRDads_Awesome_Hero_Mix_Vol_6.mp3
Category:TechnoRetro Dads -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

1