Looking Back - [Etcetera]

Check out today's show for a chill look back at our collective lessons learned this year. Click here to listen.

Matt didn't make it...sadness. Sharon's back in town...joy. We were joined in studio by the Master of the Nerdiverse himself, Mr. Tim Holt (in from Nashville)...glory. And Gordo, Regular Jeff, Gordon, and Tom the Brat jumped into the internet stream of collective consciousness as well...unity.

If you want to add something from your experience this year, please post in the comments. We would love to hear and learn from you as well.

We'd be honored to continue the journey with you in 2006. Subscribe to the podcast and join us each week for Etcetera.

Yule Blog - [Matthew]

This has been the most dynamic year of my life. The highs were very high, the lows, very, very low.

One of the biggest highs (read that however you wish) has come from being a part of ‘Etcetera.’ Beyond being a fun creative outlet, it has allowed me be a part of a burgeoning community that stretches from L.A. to Canada, from South Florida to Memphis. I’m aware of how blessed I am to be a part of it.

And the central happiness I’ve found here is the community.

For example:

- We’ve collected money (from people in two countries) to give to needy people we’ll never meet in yet another country, all spearheaded by the benevolent Saint Gordo of Brew.

- Erik and I traveled to another state to meet and break bread with people we’ve previously only spoken with over the phone and the show.

- Geoduck Joe cared enough to send us scary mollusk toys and Rainier Beer.

- We’ve had two listener appreciation parties (karaoke and libations provided by the always-enterprising Mr. Andrew Haas).

And the list goes on...

Sharon is a certified gemologist, so she can tell you: one of the things that makes something valuable is that it’s rare. What we have here is rare and I want you to know, I value it.

As C.S. Lewis once wrote:

“There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear.”

Merry Christmas, everybody. Thanks for coming along for the ride. I’m looking forward to even greater adventures with you in 2006.

[end ping]

A Very Etc. Xmas - [Etcetera]

We had a jolly good time today on Etcetera. Click here for a bit of Xmas cheer.

If you're looking for that last minute gift for yourself, click here to subscribe to the podcast. You'll get the show delivered fresh each week. The best part? It's free! It also makes a great email inbox stuffer. Pass the link around to friends and do your part to bring joy to your world.

Merry Christmas!

Time Warp: The Best of Etcetera - [Etcetera]

This week, take a trip back in time with us to a world before "Goulet."

This program originally streamed on 1/5/05. We had just returned from xmas break well rested and ready to rock the new year in style. Listen for the first use of "Goulet," the first "Ask Etcetera" segment [including the first call from our now good friend Andrew (along with a discussion of farting etiquette in the marriage bed)], and a whole lot of the not-half-bad banter you've come to know and love from your internet stream of collective consciousness.

We'll be back with a brand new show next week. In the in between time, subscribe to our podcast and don't miss this week's kick ass edition of Steve Brown Etc. with the stepson and co-producer of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Douglas Gresham.

P.S. Glen, where are you brootha? This show made me miss you even more.

P.P.S. If'n you want a "crazy lady" fix, go to our Blogger profile and click on the audio clip.

Etcetera @ The Movies: CNLWW - [Matthew]

Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe...

First of all, holy poo-- that’s a long, though unavoidable, title (‘32 points, Scrabble fans’).

The film is, of course, based on the children’s novel of the same name by C.S. Lewis. The screenplay adaptation was written by Ann Peacock, Andrew Adamson, Christopher Markus, and Stephen McFeely.

CNLWW (that’s the shorthand I’m using) features exceptional acting, especially from the kids. In particular, ten year-old Georgie Henley, who plays Lucy, steals the picture. Several scenes are very emotional and she absolutely nails it. How little Dakota Fanning didn’t muscle in to get this part, I don’t know.

Also worth mentioning acting-wise… The Ice Queen, played by Tilda Swinton (she played the Angel Gabriel in Constantine). Swinton makes a wicked good Wicked Witch of the North. Throughout the movie she shoots daggers with her eyes, but in the final sequence, she actually gets to use real daggers and she proves to be one bad mammajamma.

Mr. Beaver, voiced by Ray Winstone, is charming as well.

Aslan the Lion’s voice may be familiar, yet not immediately recognizable. Liam Neeson plays the part, nicely capturing the strong-but-gentle, dangerous-but-good quality of the Christ-lion.

CNLWW’s special effects are remarkable, and when you think about it, that’s saying something. Consider how far technology has come just in the past few years. For a film to really grab you, the effects must truly be next-level.

The biggest challenge, and thusly success, fx-wise is the film’s wall-to-wall animals. Think about it: Lord of the Rings had imaginary creatures (‘How lifelike is the Balrog? Didn’t look like the ones I’ve seen’). In contrast, CNLWW is nothing as much as a gigantic digital menagerie of anthropomorphic animals and each looks completely realistic.

CNLWW’s story takes a little while to get cranked up and going, but once it does, it rolls right along. It has a very simple, uncomplicated storyline, as opposed to the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, which must have felt like transcribing the phonebook onto a cocktail napkin.

Comparisons with LOTR are inevitable, but really it’s like comparing apples to Orcs. Unlike LOTR, the epic scope of CNLWW unfolds and builds gradually. The battle scenes are good, but few. A far cry from the skirmish-a-minute pace of Peter Jackson’s opus. Director Andrew Adamson (Shrek, Shrek 2) has made a clear choice to keep this a children’s film: Lots of action, but no real violence. No blood is seen whatsoever, even after Peter runs a wolf through with his sword.

CNLWW, while fantastic and well executed, is not perfect. There are a few moments, like where the kids lead an army into battle, where it felt silly. If you can manage to keep thinking of it in terms of a children’s fairy tale, it works.

Second, the sequence wherein Aslan sacrifices himself to save Edmund feels sudden, rushed and -- I hate saying this -- heavy-handed and didactic.

In all, CNLWW is a charming, entertaining, often thought-provoking family film, generously sprinkled with a surprising number of truly funny moments. At the end of the advanced screening, the audience applauded (silly audience… C.S. Lewis wasn’t even there that night).

I have a feeling you’ll like it, too.

**** (out of 5)

Rated PG for battle sequences and frightening moments
Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes
Opens Nationwide Friday, December 9th

PS: Stick around after the first set of credits to see an additional (albeit unnecessary) scene that leans toward the next installment in the series.

[end ping]

Train Wreck - [Etcetera]

They say that you're only as good as your last show. Well... here's our last show.

This wasn't our last show ever (although you never know) but we will be doing a re-air of Etcetera next week. So if you have any requests, leave them in the comments to this post and we'll try to do you right.

If you haven't subscribed to the podcast yet, then you're not getting our show delivered automatically (and free) directly to your computer/iPod. I just thought you should know.

A Dream and Vision - [Erik]

"If you have a dream, it's only a dream; if I have a dream, it remains but a dream. But if we all have the same dream, even if it's an impossible dream, it will become reality."
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"How blessed are the sensible: they shall see the very tip of their nose."

-Brennan Manning