Category: Off The Chain Episodes

Episodes of Off the Chain

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Episode 7: Time Travel, OTC Hall of Fame, Ask OTC, Unchained Melodies, and All the Pretty Horses

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This week Dave and Steel are joined by their friend Ryan to discuss two important time travel franchises: Bill and Ted’s & Back to the Future, learn more about DIY time capsules, induct their first class into the OFF THE CHAIN Hall of Fame, share some recent music that’s impressed them, and drop some beautiful prose from Cormac McCarthy.

Links

Time Travel

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure Trailer [1989]

Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey Trailer [1991]

Back to the Future I Trailer [1985]

Back to the Future II Trailer [1989]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oCi436G8Xk

Back to the Future III Trailer [1990]

Off the Chain Hall of Fame

We were overjoyed to induct our first two members of the OFF THE CHAIN Hall of Fame during this episode. Enormous congratulations to RecSpecs and Paul Walker.

A few years back, Steel wrote a blog post about Rec Specs (complete with image galleries) that pretty much captures most of their greatness.

Unchained Melodies

Kitty, Daisy, and Lewis: Baby Bye Bye

Scenic: Hours on End

The Heligoats: Goodness Gracious

Book Wisdom

This week’s installment of Book Wisdom came from the final page of Cormac McCarthy’s novel All the Pretty Horses.

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Episode 6: At the Limits, Small Talk, Unchained Melodies, and Grooks

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This week Dave and Steel are joined by their friend Ryan. Together the trio discusses the limits of human endurance by way of the stories of Ernest Shackleton and Yiannis Kouros, share some conversational anecdotes from old Chip & Dale cartoons, Finnish miltary history, and mathematical outsiders, share some favorite recent music, and drop some wisdom from Danish Scientist Piet Hein.

Links

At the Limits

Dave recommends checking out these two books about Ernest Shackleton, both called Endurance, after the name of Shackleton’s ship:

Steel recommends this fascinating 2006 profile of Greek-Australian ultramarathoner Yiannos Kouros from Runner’s World. Kouros also maintains his own website, with more biographical information for the curious.

Small Talk

Donald Duck pulls a handgun on Chip & Dale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biy5HrSCSSg

Finnish master sniper Simo Häyhä’s wikipedia page.

The recent New Yorker profile on mathematician Yitang Zhang.

Unchained Melodies

Waxahatchee: Under a Rock

London Grammar: Nightcall

Mina Tindle: L’Astrakan

Book Wisdom

The poems Steel read in this episode come from Danish scientist Piet Hein‘s book Grooks.

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Episode 5: Small Talk, Diesel: Running on Gas, Ask OTC, Unchained Melodies, and Shantideva

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This week Dave and Steel are joined by their old friend Jordan, a Las Vegas-based lawyer. Together, the trio talk about professional dumpster divers, meditating mummified monks, and the maker Jimmy DiResta, introduce a new segment focused on Dave & Jordan’s shared love of Vin Diesel, take a question from a listener about how to deal with boring lecture classes, share some of their favorite recent music, and explore the wisdom of the 8th Century Buddhist monk Shantideva.

Links

Small Talk

  • Wired Magazine’s profile of Matt Malone, professional dumpster diver in Austin, Texas.
  • Story on the unidentified mummified Buddhist monk in Mongolia from the BBC. A more in-depth feature appeared in the Siberian Times.
  • Jimmy DiResta’s YouTube channel. Jordan recommends starting with these two classics:
    Making an Aluminum Hatchet Handle:

    Making an AK47-shaped guitar for Wyclef Jean:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLmKrXjTwIo

Diesel: Running on Gas

Dave & Jordan discuss the 2013 film Riddick, the third in the Chronicles of Riddick franchise. Here’s the film’s trailer [warning: it’s pretty intense and probably not for children]:

Ask OTC

Here are a couple of images Dave and Jordan have drawn in class to help them pass the time.

Geometric Patterns
Geometric Pattern sketch made by Jordan during a law school course.

Gentle Bear checks his mail.
In this drawing by Dave, Gentle Bear checks his mail.

Dave has published a whole book of Gentle Bear cartoons, called Gentle Bear: Gentle Honey which you can buy in eBook form.

Unchained Melodies

DakhaBrakha: Baby

Animals as Leaders: Lippincott

AC/DC: Thunderstruck

Liam Bailey: Stun Me
Stun Me by Liam Bailey on Grooveshark
Alash Ensemble: Bashtak

Book Wisdom

This week’s Book Wisdom was stitched together from various passages in Vesna A. and B. Alan Wallace’s translation of Shantideva’s A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life.

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Episode 4: Food Kiosk, Men's Room Graffiti, Unchained Melodies, and the Brothers Karamazov

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This week Dave and Steel are joined by their old friends Spencer and Jordan. Together, they discuss the best meals they’ve ever had, some graffiti Steel recently spotted in a men’s room, some of the best tunes they’ve heard recently, and Spencer shares some wisdom from Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Links

Food Kiosk

The idea for this segment came from Stephen L. Peck‘s book A Short Stay in Hell, which Dave recently read and enjoyed. The premise for the story is partially based on Jorge Luis Borges’ famous short story “The Library of Babel”

Aglio Olio e Peperoncino Recipe

Ingredients

Amounts are very approximate and not that important – you really should experiment a little, it’s a sign of culinary maturity and confidence — Spencer

  • Spaghetti pasta – 1 lb
  • Fresh garlic – 3 cloves
  • Extra virgin olive oil – 1/3-1/2 cup
  • Red pepper flakes – to taste
  • Parmesan cheese – to taste
Directions

Start water boiling in a pot. There should be enough water to completely submerge the spaghetti. Add a generous amount of salt to the water. When the water comes to a boil, add the pasta and cook until it has reached the desired consistency.

In the meantime, add the olive oil to a pan over low-medium heat. Crush the garlic and sauté with pepper flakes.

Combine the pasta and the oil/garlic/pepper flakes and toss. Serve with grated parmesan.

Men’s Room Graffiti

Check out the Men’s Room Graffiti Tumblr, where you can find a couple of images of the piece of graffiti which inspired our conversation.

Unchained Melodies

Timber Timbre: Demon Host

Shovels & Rope: Lay Low

Mikal Cronin: Made My Mind Up

Flume & Chet Faker: Drop the Game

Vulfpeck: Outro

Book Wisdom

Spencer shared a beautiful passage from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brother’s Karamazov. The passage he read appears in Book II, Chapter IV of Constance Garnett’s translation.

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Episode 3: Small Talk, Lost the Plot, Ask OTC, Unchained Melodies, and The Little Prince

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In this episode of Off the Chain, we introduce a new segment called Small Talk, in which we offer you some advice for improving your conversation skills and give you some rich content for your next informal chat with friends (Is it safe to read on the toilet? Coke vs. Pepsi? What does Ayn Rand think of recent children’s movies?), play another version of our Lost the Plot game, in which Dave asks Steel to describe the plot of a bad action movie he’s never seen (this week it’s Lockout!), answer listener questions in another installment of Ask Off the Chain, share some of our favorite recent songs, and drop some book wisdom from French adventurer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Links

Small Talk

  • “Reading on the Loo” article in The Guardian
  • Why blind taste tests might be misleading & the Coke vs. Pepsi wars by Matthew Yglesias in Slate
  • Guide to open heart surgery from Healthline.
  • Ayn Rand reviews children’s movies by Mallory Ortberg in The New Yorker.

Lost the Plot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLTOzu8N1Pg

Unchained Melodies

Benjamin Booker: Violent Shiver

Pavement: Gold Soundz

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks: No One Is (As I Are Be)

Foxygen: No Destruction

Book Wisdom

  • Taken from Chapter 21 of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s story Le Petit Prince [The Little Prince]
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Episode 2: Castles & Coasters, Super Bowl Ads, Ask OTC, Unchained Melodies, and Beloved

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In this episode of Off the Chain podcast, we discuss the Phoenix-based amusement park Castles and Coasters, talk about our favorite water slide rides, review the best and worst Super Bowl ads, answer listener questions in a new segment called ‘Ask Off the Chain,’ share some of our favorite recent music in ‘Unchained Melodies,’ and share some life-changing wisdom from Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved.

Links

Castles & Coasters

The Sky Diver

Super Bowl Ads

Budweiser [Squeak E. Clean soundtrack]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siHU_9ec94c
Loctite Glue

Daddy [Dove Soap]

Grub Hub [Burrito abuse]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bhwdcx2eHA
Like a Girl [Always Maxipads]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIxA3o84syY
Skittles [Arm-wrestling]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDwRN2GBUj8
Dodge Elders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKKlqMs19tU
FURIOUS 7!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10lcHiUh5Us

Unchained Melodies

Little May: Boardwalks

Little May: Boardwalks [Karl K edit]
https://soundcloud.com/karlkdjproducer/little-may-boardwalks-karlk-edit
Gramatik: Just Jammin’

Gregory Alan Isakov: Amsterdam

Book Wisdom

Toni Morrison’s Beloved

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Episode 1: Planet Hulk, Non-Stop, & Damien Jurado

The Hulk

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In the first episode of our Off the Chain podcast, we discuss the meaning of ‘Off the Chain,’ the Planet Hulk storyline from Marvel’s The Incredible Hulk series, the Liam Neeson film Non-Stop, and the music of Damien Jurado.

We’re also including a Damien Jurado sampler playlist with some of Steel’s favorite songs, in case you want a taste of his music. The Spotify playlist features music from most of his albums, presented in rough chronological order. You can listen to that below:

Enjoy!