Category: Off The Chain Episodes

Episodes of Off the Chain

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Episode 37: Owning It

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This week Dave and Steel are joined once again by Dave’s old neighbor Matt Brown. Together the trio discusses Matt’s vinyl collection, the best and worst American sports teams owners in recent memory, give their recommendations for book of the year, play great music by Pavement, Jonathan Candido, Andrew W.K., The Baseball Project, and Barrett Strong, and share book wisdom from Don DeLillo’s first novel, Americana.

Links

Recommended Record Labels

OTC Sport Team Owners

BASEBALL

BAD

GOOD

  • Bill Veeck, the best owner of all time. Just watch the first 2 minutes of this if you need proof:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6pUm5SHfMA

FOOTBALL

BAD

GOOD

BASKETBALL

BAD

  • Donald Sterling [LA Clippers]. This guy’s whole life. Holy crap.

GOOD

  • Steve Ballmer [LA Clippers]. Amazing everything. THIS COMPANY YAAAAAAAAAAAASSSS!
  • Jim Dolan [NY Knicks]. Amazing musician, bizarre friendship with Isiah Thomas
  • Mikhail Prokhorov [Brooklyn Nets]. Just read this. Yikes.
  • Ozzie and Daniel Silna [Spirits of St. Louis]. These brothers and former ABA team owners worked out a deal guaranteeing them a fixed share of TV money in perpetuity for giving up their team. Best legal deal of all time?

Books of the Year

Unchained Melodies: Sports Owner Theme Songs

Book Wisdom

This week’s passage came from Don DeLillo’s 1971 debut novel, Americana.

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Episode 36: Wonka!

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This week Dave and Steel are joined by Dave’s old neighbor Matt Brown. Together the trio discuss their coldest ever nights, cover some important small talk topics (French Scrabble champions who don’t speak French, achievement beards and Bastrop, Texas’ Chicken Refuge), have the first ever segment of OTC Debate, and play great Wonka-approved music from Mary Lou Lord & Semisonic, The Flaming Lips, The Silver Jews, Cibo Matto, Woods, and Abner Jay before Dave closes the episode with some book wisdom from Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Links

Small Talk

OTC Debate

Topics Covered:

  • Willy Wonka: artistic genius or weird candy guy?
  • Poems should rhyme or maybe they don’t have to?
  • Cursive: let it die or teach the children?
  • Apes or Bears?
  • Kenny Rogers or Dolly Parton?
  • Magic the Gathering: cool or uncool?
  • Phil Collins or Peter Gabriel?
  • Turtles or tortoises?
  • Should the NCAA pay its student/athletes?

Listen to the episode for our hot takes on these pressing issues!

Unchained Melodies: Songs Willy Wonka Would Dig

Book Wisdom

This week’s book wisdom comes from Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Featured image by JaredFrazer

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Episode 35: We've Got You Covered!

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This week Dave and Steel bring Zac back on the show to discuss the joys and terrors of fairs (County and State alike), the golden era of Pauly Shore films, a guy who surfed a 20 foot wave on a motorcycle with skis attached, and the new Alexander Hamilton hip-hop Broadway musical. They also have their first poetry face-off (Mary Oppen vs. David Berman), cover some zany corporate hijinks, play great cover songs by Earth, Wind, & Fire, Pavement, M. Ward, Jamie Cullum, the Lemonheads, and Bonnie “Prince” Billy, and Steel shares some book wisdom from the poet Brian Teare.

Links

Small Talk

  • Top 5 Pauly Shore films [Dave]
  • Robbie Maddison surfed a 20 foot wave on a motorcycle with skis:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDi9uFcD7XI
  • Alexander Hamilton, the hip-hop musical

Unchained Melodies: Cover Me!

Book Wisdom

This week’s book wisdom was provided by Brian Teare‘s poem “When we are on the right track, we are surprised by joy”

Featured image by Robert Bejil Productions

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Episode 34: A Mighty Wind

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This week Dave and Steel are joined by Dave’s old neighbor Zac, an accomplished pianist (you probably know him from his work with world-renowned Neil Diamond cover band Diamond in the Rough or his life-changing guest session with George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars at a Barack Obama inauguration with the Congressional Black Congress in a DC hotel) and holder of a five-year chip for meritorious bus driving in the Mesa Unified School District. He’s a big deal, obviously! In addition to Zac’s “expert testimony,” in which he explains the cultural value of jazz to the philistinic hosts, and gives some tips for avoiding disciplinary hearings as a high school bus driver, the trio share the latest in Vin Diesel developments, some great music featuring wind instruments from Beirut, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, the Beastie Boys, Radiohead, Vulfpeck, and Tjupurru, and Dave drops some great vehicle related wisdom from Flannery O’Connor’s novel Wise Blood.

Links

Vin Diesel: Running on Gas

  • Vin’s a must-follow on Instagram
  • The Last Witch Hunter is less than one month away.
  • Although the search for a director for Fast & Furious 8 continues, Vin promises a closing trilogy for the series.

Unchained Melodies

Songs with wind instruments

Book Wisdom

This week’s passage was chosen by Dave and comes from Flannery O’Connor’s first novel Wise Blood.
Featured image for the post by Tom Marcello

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Episode 33: Small Town USA, Small Talk, To the Limits, Great Moments in Advertising History, OTC Hall of Fame, Unchained Melodies: 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon, and "Pig in First Person"

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This week Dave and Steel are joined by their old friend Jordan to discuss Dave’s recent move to a small town in Arizona, cover some small talk topics, describe some extraordinary feats of human endurance, great advertisements featuring pro athletes and attorneys for local markets, induct the newest member of the OTC Hall of Fame, share great music from The Bacon Brothers, Arcade Fire, Stan Rogers, The Tragically Hip, Fujima and Miyagi, and Kenny Loggins, and share a wrenching poem by John Levy, a Tuscon-based poet who works as a public defender.

Links

Small Talk

To the Limits

  • Terry Fox ran with one leg across Canada to raise money for cancer. The 30 for 30 documentary Into the Wind tells his story. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIBLJn48IpU

  • Filip Müller was a Jewish prisoner of Czech origin who was forced to serve on the Sonderkommando in Auschwitz. He was one of a very few crematorium workers to survive Auschwitz.
  • Hesham Modamani and Feras Abukhalil, two Syrian refugees who recently swam from Turkey to Greece.

Great Moments in Advertising History

Athletes in Local Commercials

Scottie Pippen for Submarine sandwiches

Some Incredible Lawyer Commercials

OTC Hall of Fame

Lawyer Mike

This guy is incredible. Just watch his videos and you’ll understand.

Unchained Melodies: 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon

Book Wisdom

Today’s selection for book wisdom, “Pig in First Person” is a poem from John Levy‘s collection Oblivion Tyrants Crumbs.

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Episode 32: Back to School, Expert Testimony: Ed Tech and Uvula Facts Edition, OTC Disaster Movies, Unchained Melodies: Back to School Edition, and Two Poems

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This week Dave and Steel are joined once again by their friend Josh. They share back to school memories (lots of bus ride reminiscing), ask Josh about his loved of technology, pedagogy, video games and uvulas, and then Dave and Steel share some great music from Pulp, The Korgis, Modest Mouse, Blackalicious, Bombadil, and Camera Obscura, before Steel ends the episode by dropping some anti-teacher book wisdom from Roger Waters and Philip Levine.

Links

Expert Testimony

Israeli researchers explain the purpose of our uvula.

Unchained Melodies: Back to School Edition

Book Wisdom

This week Steel read the opening lines from the immortal Roger Waters’ poem “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)” and Philip Levine’s “M. Degas Teaches Art and Science at Durfee Intermediate School, Detroit 1942“.

Photo by Internet Archive Book Images

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Episode 31: Men's Hair Care Tips, The Apocalypse, Unchained Melodies: Apocalypse Now Edition, and The Circle

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We know that we missed a week (Dave was moving his lucrative nursing practice to a new city), but we’re back, and this episode is more than worth the wait. Our friend Josh joins us to discuss hair care and grooming tips for men, several flavors of apocalypse (he and Dave are experts on the topic!), we play end of the world themed music from Wyclef Jean, Nena, Barry McGuire, Tom Waits, Tool, and Echo & the Bunnymen, and Dave shares some dystopian book wisdom from Dave Eggers’ most recent novel The Circle.

Links

Hair Care & Grooming Tips for Men

  • Dave recommends Garniet Fructis’ now-discontinued Surf Hair product.
  • Steel once bought some Malin+Goetz hair pomade. The one time he used it was pretty nice.
  • Josh is a big fan of Brut spray-on deodorant, especially when applied in poorly-ventilated locker rooms. Do everyone a favor and use a ton of this stuff.

The Apocalypse

Some recommendations, sorted by type of apocalypse:

Natural Disaster

    • Waterworld, obviously.
    • The Mad Max franchise
    • The Age of Miracles, a novel about time slowing.
    • Deep Impact & Armageddon 

Disease

Rage

  • Pontypool. Rage as a disease transmitted through the spoken word.
  • The Signal. Technology spreads rage!

Alien Invasion

Zombies

  • The Zombie in Film (FULL ESSAY: Parts I, II, and III)
  • Maggie
  • World War Z
  • Fido
  • Warm Bodies
  • Shaun of the Dead
  • Zone One
  • 28 Days Later
  • 28 Weeks Later
  • Night of the Living Dead Franchise
  • Walking Dead
  • iZombie (not apocalypse, just living as a creature among humans.)

Vampires

War

  • Hunger Games
  • The Postman
  • The Road
  • The Terminator Franchise
  • Fallout Video Games

Religion/Act of “God”

Zombie Preparedness Resources

Unchained Melodies: Apocalypse NOW! edition

Book Wisdom

This week’s edition of Book Wisdom comes from Dave Eggers’ satire of the new media and tech industries, The Circle.

Photo by Abode of Chaos

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Episode 30: The Skunk & Following People, Expert Testimony: Lexington, Kentucky Edition, Ask OTC, Unchained Melodies: Songs About Animals, and The Seed Beneath the Snow

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This week Dave and Steel are joined once again by their friend Julia. Together they share stories of spying and following people, quiz Julia about all things Kentucky and ancient Greece, answer listener questions about Vin Diesel, eighteenth century literature and college, share great music from Beth Orton, Hayden Thorpe, David Gray, Joanna Newsom, Warren Zevon, and CocoRosie, and Steel shared a passage from Ignazio Silone’s novel The Seed Beneath The Snow.

Links

The Skunk

Dave recommends the children’s psychological thriller The Skunk by Mac Barnett.

Expert Testimony

Ask OTC

  • Check out Vin Diesel’s fake beard in his new witch-hunter movie.
  • Carry your book in a wagon when you go to college kids. That is all.

Unchained Melodies

Beth Orton — Dolphins

Hayden Thorpe — Goodbye Horses

David Gray — One with the Birds [Bonnie “Prince” Billy cover]

Joanna Newsom — Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie

Warren Zevon — Werewolves of London

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDpYBT0XyvA

CocoRosie — Werewolf

Book Wisdom

This week’s edition of Book Wisdom comes from Ignazio Silone’s The Seed Beneath the Snow, the third novel in his Abruzzo trilogy, which also includes Fontamara and Bread & Wine.

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Episode 29: Greatest Ever Haircuts, Small Talk, Everyday Heroes, Unchained Melodies: BECK!, and Bartleby, the Scrivener

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This week Dave and Steel are joined by their friend Julia to discuss their best and most memorable haircuts, the recent revival of the Yul Brenner sci-fi classic Westworld, a huge, beautiful net that’s been installed over Boston’s Greenway, and lower level Spanish football jerseys made to look like ham. The trio also give respect to a trio of everyday heroes, share six favorite songs from Beck’s incredible, eclectic musical career and Julia drops some books wisdom from Herman Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener”.

Links

Small Talk

  • Westworld, a fantastic film starring Yul Brenner was so good that HBO has decided we need more, much more [Dave].
  • This net over the Greenway in Boston is awesome. We should have one everywhere [Julia].
  • Some lower league Spanish football uniforms have been made to look like ham [Steel].

Everyday Heroes

  • Tate Peschka, one of Dave’s coworkers at the Anasazi Foundation [Dave]
  • My mom. No but seriously. She broke her kneecap recently 🙁 — poor mom. She’s a good mom though. Also an anesthesiologist. Very impressive word to teach your kids to say. [Julia]
  • Arnold Abbott, this 90 year old guy in Broward County, Florida who has been serving meals to the homeless for decades in memory of his now deceased wife. Got arrested and made the news recently [Steel].

Unchained Melodies: Beck Edition

Book Wisdom

This week, Julia presented the concluding paragraphs of Herman Melville’s classic short story “Bartleby, the Scrivener“. Ah Bartleby! Ah Humanity!

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Episode 28: Expert Testimony: Self-Help, Teen Boys and Tull edition, To the Limits, Ask OTC, Unchained Melodies: Jethro Tull Forever, and The Things They Carried

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He’s back, by popular demand! Following up on last week’s amazing appearance, Dave and Steel bring back their old buddy Matt Howard. In this episode, Howard explains his love of self-help books, troubled adolescent boys, and Jethro Tull, the trio discuss the incredible exploits of the Iron Cowboy, the unnamed peasant woman who gave birth to 69 children, and Jack LaLanne, take some great listener questions, put together a life-changing Jethro Tull musical marathon and drop some sobering book wisdom from Tim O’Brien’s collection The Things They Carried.

Links

To the Limits

Ask OTC

Paul O’Neill — A True Yankee

Rickey Henderson — The Greatest Basestealer of all-time

Jim Abbott’s No-hitter

Unchained Melodies — Jethro Tull Edition

Skating Away (on the Thin Ice of a New Day)

Bungle in the Jungle

Bourée

Life is a Long Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE8YLPHZImw

Thick as a Brick

My Sunday Feeling

Book Wisdom

This week’s passage came from the opening story of Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam book The Things They Carried.

BONUS TULL!!!!

Aqualung