Friday, February 24, 2017

Episode 204: Classic Eureka 2.0

Technical difficulties on this week's show, guys. Nothing crazy, but enough that we should tell you about it. We recorded on 2 evenings & we're both noticeably more intoxicated during the second half of the show.

As a result the episode goes long, but there's plenty to talk about so we performed a little tit-for-tat re topics. Craig had to make an emergency trip to his home town to help out his mother on a menial task. Jeremy can no longer eat popcorn. Craig ran up against another home improvement foe. Jeremy went to New Orleans again, met Miss Gay Pennsylvania, fell in love, and considered starting a new life.

Give us a call if something strikes your fancy: 620-270-1378

Twitter:
Show: @eurekapodcast
Jeremy: @aintnoswayze
Craig: @anaveragegatsby

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/eurekapodcast

No closing song this week because it didn't seem right to shoehorn a song in when Jeremy's dog just kicked the power cord out of the socket to end the show.



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iTunes link here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/eureka-podcast/id604700544

Episode 203: Sportsketball Talk

Jeremy opens the show with a story about almost hitting a deer on his bike, Craig has yet another Christmas Gift-gate update, then Jeremy hijacks the show to discuss his new favorite thing: Ice Cube's 3-on-3 basketball league with rosters full of former NBA players. Craig rounds out the sports talk with a throw away line about a baseball conspiracy that Jeremy just cannot get passed. Listen & learn!

Give us a call if something strikes your fancy: 620-270-1378

Twitter:
Show: @eurekapodcast
Jeremy: @aintnoswayze
Craig: @anaveragegatsby

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/eurekapodcast

This week's closing song is "Happy Valentine's Day" by Outkast.



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iTunes link here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/eureka-podcast/id604700544

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Is John Wick Plugged into The Matrix?

First things effing last: Have you seen John Wick AND The Matrix? It doesn’t matter if you’ve seen John Wick Chapter 2 or the other perceived turds that are the sequels to The Matrix. Personally, I love the sequels, but that’s neither here or there. If you’ve seen them both – great. If not, check out the recaps John Wick here; The Matrix here. You can also read my off the cuff recaps below. Might want to check out the links, though.

So, The Matrix is such a pop culture staple that it needs little explanation. Humans built machines. The machines took over, but realized the best energy source to continue running the machines were humans. They plugged these humans into the matrix to keep them alive so that the machines can suck their energy out of them. They realize that they can’t just keep the humans alive, though, because reasons. They (the machines) begin creating lives for the humans inside their head to keep them happy. Not just happy, they’re based in reality. They tried to run a simulation that is exactly like real life because we humans could identify the simulation if it was too full of rainbows & lollipops. Every once in a while a human would be unplugged from the matrix by the human resistance to fight against the machines. Keanu Reeves played Neo, a Christ-like character who had been foretold to come & free all the humans from the bondage of the machines. There, if you haven’t seen it now you have the gist.

John Wick is a revenge tale focusing on a former mob hit man whose wife has just died AND the dog she bought for him as an emotional replacement is killed by the same mobsters he left behind to live his perfect life with the wife that has just died. Get it? The wife & dog are connected emotionally for Mr. Wick & when the son of the godfather kills the dog he loses his shit and rips through the entire mob to kill everyone involved. It’s a really badass movie. WATCH IT.

Now, when you watch John Wick or if you’re planning to watch it again I want you to keep a few things in mind. It makes it that much more fun. Well, it did for me anyway.

1) The world of John Wick might actually be one of the simulations the machines are running within The Matrix



In The Matrix there are thousands if not millions of humans plugged into the grid. They’re like so many rechargeable batteries in towers that resemble stocks of corn. These humans are not stolen from their parents & plugged in. They’ve been built in petri dishes using DNA collected form humans long ago. Presumably, anyway. I haven’t checked the cannon for The Matrix, but it has to be something like that.

So, it’s logical to think that there would be identical humans that are plugged in to the grid which look the same, talk the same, act the same – because they’re the same genetically. The only difference is they might be running a different simulation. So in The Matrix, Neo (Reeves) was a shlubby IT guy who was living a pretty boring life when he’s unplugged & realizes his “life” has been spent as a battery. But in John Wick, he (Reeves) has not been unplugged yet. He’s running around in a simulation being a badass with an amazing shot. He has not yet been unplugged. He’s just lucky that his simulation is so much better than Neo’s for some reason.

2) John Wick is a tactical god just like Neo became.

There is no arguing this. His friends & enemies refer to him as Baba Yaga, basically a Boogey Man who cannot be stopped. He never seems to miss his target & every move he makes is the most efficient. It’s almost as if...he can see what’s going to happen before it actually happens. This is something Neo learns how to do in The Matrix.

Not only that, but Wick never seems to be all that tired. Everyone recalls the moment Neo realizes he’s not actually breathing air while plugged into the matrix. He’s just laid back in a post-apocalyptic dentist chair plugged into the simulation. He’s not ACTUALLY fighting anyone. Perhaps this is what is happening to Wick. Why would he be out of breath or tired it he’s plugged in somewhere, just chilling in one of those battery-charging pods? And where do you suppose he got those skills? I suppose he could be ex military (as implied by him wearing his watch on the inside of his wrist, or you know - his skills), but I like to think he downloaded it - a la Neo.

In some scenes it's almost like Wick is dodging the bullets.  Reminds you of something, doesn't it?

3) All of those guns, man. 




4) The director was Keanu’s stunt double in The Matrix.

I’m not entirely sure how that relates to my rock solid theory, but it is too cool not to be included. The man goes from being Keanu’s stunt double to directing him in his career renaissance.

5) Marilyn Manson is featured heavily in both soundtracks. 

In John Wick it is “Killing Strangers” which is played at multiple points in the film. In The Matrix it was “Rock is Dead”. Clearly the machines love them some Manson.

6) Laurence Fishburne shows up in Chapter 2.

Now, I haven’t seen Chapter 2 yet because I live in a small town & for some reason the theater doesn’t want to make money so they didn’t play it here. That hasn’t stopped me from watching the trailer over & over again, though. Laurence Fishburne’s Morpheus is the one who showed up in The Matrix & revealed to Neo that he was plugged into the simulation, giving him the choice of the red or the blue pill. From what I’ve seen in the trailers, Fishburne appears to be someone who is going to rock Wick’s world perhaps as much as Morpheus did Neo’s. (This part is subject to change once I watch Chapter 2, but obviously just the appearance of Morpheus in the film lends to my silly fan theory.)

7)  Neo is actually referenced in John Wick

According to IMDB, during the safe house scene the character's user name displayed in the top right is, 'Neo'. This is a reference to Keanu Reeves' character in The Matrix trilogy.

8) An Agent from The Matrix makes a cameo in John Wick.




The only aspect that I couldn’t get passed was the fact that I didn’t see any agents in the background doing anything Agent-y. That is until I reviewed IMDB while watching for the 5th time & noticed Agent Johnson himself was not just hanging out in the back ground being menacing. He (actor Daniel Bernhardt) is disguised as Kirill, the head of security for Viggo. He is the only one to meet John Wick in hand-to-hand combat and come out the victor. He actually throws Wick from the balcony of the club onto the dance floor, causing Wick to book it out of there before (I’m assuming) Kirill went all Agent-y on him & glided down onto the dance floor or took over another patron's body to finish him off. So there you have it – an agent confronts John Wick within the matrix & severely wounds him.

I’m sure if I was really looking there would be plenty more to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that John Wick is plugged into The Matrix, but I’m interested in hearing any theories you might have to support mine. Go ahead & chat it up in the comments section below.

Also, don’t forget to listen to my podcast, Eureka Podcast. Episode 203 is available right now.

Direct Download Link: http://traffic.libsyn.com/eurekapodcast/EP_203.mp3

iTunes link here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/eureka-podcast/id604700544

Friday, February 10, 2017

I HAVE MADE BLOG!

We’re going to try this blog thing out. Not much to talk about in this post, but I wanted to put something out there…mostly because I promised on Episode 201 of Eureka Podcast that I would have something done by now. And I am nothing if not a man of my word.

I don’t know where the blog portion of the show is going to take me, but I guarantee it is going to be similar to the podcast: I’ll write about nothing at all, but spend a considerable amount of time doing so. What is nothing? Everything that pops into my mind which I cannot let go until I get some sort of answer.

I’ll be tackling such important, timely topics as the extreme high I feel when I eat a Snickers Blizzard with extra, extra, extra Snickers juxtaposed to the extreme low when I nearly finish the damn thing. And then the extreme high when I realize a ton of Snickers have gathered at the bottom of the cup, only to feel the crushing low of finishing off said Snickers & barely being able to breathe because of the rock of what would probably be 4 king-size Snickers half frozen in my stomach. #FatGuyProblems 


Jeremy was excited to learn he didn't have to order 7 Blizzards to finally have the proper amount of Snickers.

From there I might explore my confusion with the Trump administration. Is he TRYING to be a fascist or is he really as awful as those panicking & referring to him as Hitler think he is? I mean, does he KNOW that he’s following a fascist/authoritarian playbook? If not, is he accidentally doing it? Is that what previous authoritarians did as well? A part of me wants to think evil world leaders did not set out to be evil, but that they thought they were doing the right thing. Is Trump evil? I don’t know. Time will tell, I suppose, but do we have time?

Whelp! That’s a taste of the topics I’ll be covering. Listen to Eureka Podcast where I do this sort of thing in audio form with a buddy of mine who thinks about even stranger things than I do. Until next time, watch the latest Youtube video that made me larf out loud here.

Check out the latest episode of Eureka Podcast and subscribe by following the links below:
Direct Download Link: http://traffic.libsyn.com/eurekapodcast/EP_202.mp3
iTunes link here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/eureka-podcast/id604700544

Episode 202: This Machine Kills Fascists

It wasn't mentioned during the show, but this marks the 4th year of EP! Yes, there was a 6 month or so hiatus, but 4 years ago the boys started recording at Craig's mother's house with a shitty mic & shittier topix.

Nothing crazy about this episode. The boys met on Skype to discuss a bit of everything ranging from Lady Gaga to the fact that Craig still has not received the damn gift he ordered for Christmas. Throw in some Facebook questions at the end & you've got Episode 202! Enjoy!

As discussed at the top of the show - Craig appeared on Earbuds & Earworms recently. You can check it out here. Look for the episode titled "Rise Against the Machine".

Give us a call if something strikes your fancy: 620-270-1378

Twitter:
Show: @eurekapodcast
Jeremy: @aintnoswayze
Craig: @anaveragegatsby

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/eurekapodcast

The closing song is Lady Gaga's "Telephone" featuring Beyoncé.


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iTunes link here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/eureka-podcast/id604700544

Monday, February 6, 2017

Episode 201: Ah, the Joys of...I Don't Know What

Please to enjoy EP 201. Craig & Jeremy give short updates on what's going on in their lives. Jeremy's puppy is getting big & learning tricks. Craig STILL doesn't have his god damn item he ordered back in December. Republicans stole the SCOTUS pick. You know? All the normal stuff.

If you, too, want to leave a voicemail call 620-270-1378. You can also send an email to eurekapodcast@gmail.com.

Twitter:
Show: @eurekapodcast
Jeremy: @aintnoswayze
Craig: @anaveragegatsby

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/eurekapodcast


Direct Download Link: http://traffic.libsyn.com/eurekapodcast/EP_201.mp3
Rss feed here: http://eurekapodcast.libsyn.com/rss
iTunes link here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/eureka-podcast/id604700544